Report commissioned by the Refugee Documentation Centre, Ireland

Transcription

1 PENTECOSTALS IN ROMANIA Author: Bianca Ioana RUSU and Daniela TARNOVSCHI Address: Ethnocultural Diversity Resource Center 3400 Cluj-Napoca 21 Tebei St. Romania Tel: ; Fax: Report commissioned by the Refugee Documentation Centre, Ireland Address: Refugee Documentation Centre 3rd Floor Montague Court 7-11 Montague Street Dublin 2 Ireland Tel: ( ) Fax: ( ) docen1@indigo.ie, Refugee_Documentation_Centre@legalaidboard.ie Contact person: Ryan Nelson Acknowledgements This report was commisioned by the Refugee Documentation Center, Ireland and it was produced in cooperation with the Ethnocultural Diversity Resource Center, Cluj, Romania (EDRC). It was researched and written by Bianca Ioana Rusu and Daniela Tarnovschi, researchers of EDRC. It was edited by Levente Salat, executive president of EDRC and Maria Kovacs, English language editor of EDRC. EDRC would like to thank all persons who generously provided information and/or documents, and/or gave interviews to their researchers. The responsibility for the report s content, though, lies only with EDRC. We welcome all comments sent to: Refugee Documentation Center, 3 rd Floor, Montague Court, 7-11 Montague Street, Dublin 2, Ireland, contact person is Ryan Nelson. address: docen1@indigo.ie or Refugee_Documentation_Center@legalaidboard.ie. 1

2 PENTECOSTALS IN ROMANIA Contents I. Presentation of the Pentecostal cult 1. Introduction of the Pentecostal cult in Romania 2. Members of the Pentecostal church 3. Structure of the Church how it works 4. Territorial distribution of the cult 5. Demographic data a. Believers b. Churches c. Distribution of the Pentecostal believers in urban/rural areas d. Distribution of Pentecostals by ethnic groups ethnic groups represented in the cult and their proportions 6. Economic status. Information about the economic situation 7. Activities carried out by the church 8. NGOs that work with the churches II. History 1. Important historical events III. General legal status 1. The History of the Legal Status of the Pentecostal Church in Romania 2. Present Evolution IV. Educational opportunities 1. The present-day situation at different levels: a. Kindergarten and primary education b. Middle school and secondary school c. Higher education V. Communication and the audio-visual media 1. Press 2. Radio 3. Television 4. The Internet VI. Present-day political and social conditions. Relationship with the State. Ways in which the state protects or hinders the minority s religious Activities 1. Present-day political and social conditions. Relationship with the State. Ways in which the state protects or hinders the minority s religious activities. 2. Cases of Discrimination and Violence 2

3 3. Relationship with the dominant religious community and other religious communities VII. Conclusions VIII. Addresses 1. Pentecostal Headquarter 2. Regional Pentecostal Communities 3. Pentecostal Churches 4. Institutions and / or associations of Pentecostals 5. Minority media a. Magazines b. Radio stations c. Internet Web Sites d. Publishing Houses XI. XII. General bibliography About the ETHNOCULTURAL DIVERSITY RESOURCE CENTRE 3

4 PRESENTATION OF THE PENTECOSTAL CULT 1. Introduction of the Pentecostal cult in Romania The Pentecostal Church (also called the Apostolic Church of the Lord) is a Neoprotestant movement to revive faith. Around the year 1900, the American preacher Charles Parham preached that the Holy Spirit would actually come to the real believers. According to the Bible, this gift was granted to the apostles on the day of Pentecost (the day when the Holy Spirit filled Jerusalem). Since the fiftieth day translates in Greek penticosta, the adepts of the new religious movement took on the name of Pentecostal. Rooted in the USA, the Pentecostal movement spread in Europe, especially in Germany and Norway. The number of believers grew rapidly, from 1,000 in 1906 to over 350,000 in (Romanian Ministry of Culture and Cults) The first Pentecostal congregation in Romania appeared in Pauliş, Arad county in Despite the persecutions that the Pentecostals were exposed to before, but in particular after World War II, the Pentecostal faith gradually spread to several regions of the country, especially to the North of Moldavia, Banat and Crişana. The vast majority of Romanian Pentecostal churches belong to the branch called Assemblies of God. After the 1989 Revolution, there also appeared churches affiliated to the branch called Church of God. (Romanian Ministry of Culture and Cults) According to the Pentecostal faith, the basis of spiritual life is personal conversion, which is followed by baptism by sinking into water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. What represents the specificity of this cult is preaching and practising baptising with the Holy Spirit, confessing experiences of gifts of the Holy Spirit, which can make Its presence felt in divine services, as well as divine healing through prayer (Romanian Ministry of Culture and Cults). The cult maintains contact with the Pentecostal Churches of Europe, within the European Pentecostal Conferences, as part of the Committee of these conferences, as well as with the European Pentecostal Theology Association. At the global level, it participates in the World Pentecostal Conferences. Pavel Riviş Tipei, President of the Romanian Pentecostal Union, emphasizes the role of the Romanian Pentecostal Church: a. The Church has the major role to witness the miraculous power of God; b. The Church has the calling to influence the human society in which it is set, at the level of the family, the community, and other local churches. At the same time, the Romanian Pentecostal Church is, at present, an uncontested instrument for saving the souls lost in the Romanian society. Pentecostalism reached Romania in 1922, but we are grateful to God for the rapid growth of the movement under the direct guidance of the Holy Spirit We passed the threshold of millennia with 2,357 Pentecostal churches in Romania and about 184 churches and groups of brethren in the Diaspora. The number of Romanian Pentecostal believers is almost 500,000, in its 80 years of history. [ ] 4

5 In our country and in the Diaspora there are over 2,500 local Romanian Pentecostal churches that carry out their activities in different communities in the country and abroad. [ ] The Romanian Pentecostal Church belongs to a religious cult that has a special impact at the international level. Together with the Charismatic Movement, grown out of the Pentecostal Church, and other churches, the World Pentecostal Church has a total number of 600,000,000 believers. (Tipei Riviş, Pavel, 2002) 2. Members of the Pentecostal Church By members (of the Pentecostal Church) we understand those people who, by their own conviction, have reached the decision that they must be baptised within the Pentecostal Church (Ilie Jolţa). A person can be given baptism in accordance with the New Testament at any age over 16 in the case of girls, and 18 in the case of boys. This is the age beginning with which in the Pentecostal cult it is believed that a person is mature enough to make such a decision. In exceptional cases, a person can be baptized at an earlier age. (Ioan Ceuţă) Family Members or Sympathisers Through family members or sympathisers, we understand that the children of families in which both parents are Pentecostal, but also adults who sympathise with the Pentecostal movement, and who go to a Pentecostal Church, but have not yet reached the conviction must receive baptism or become members of the Pentecostal Church. (Teodor Dronca) 3. Structure of the Church how it works Within the Pentecostal cult, those who carry out acts of cult bear the name of pastors. As regards the organisational structure, the cult relies on a centralised system, respecting the local ecclesiastic autonomy. The cult has a central collective leadership, represented by the Church Council, consisting of 21 members, and the Executive Board including 7 members, of whom one is the President. These organs are elected in the Elective General Meeting, the highest decision-making forum of the cult, which meets every four years. This church council includes representatives of each community, the rector of the Pentecostal theological institute, the director of the pension house (which operates within the cult), and the chief editor of the national magazine of the cult. There are eight regional communities that act as intermediaries between the local churches and the central leadership. (Vasile Roske) From the standpoint of operation, the basic unit of the cult is the local church. A group of local churches in a certain area make up a regional community. All the regional communities make up the Pentecostal Cult or Union. The 8 regional communities are: Arad, Braşov, Bucureşti, Cluj, Oradea, Oltenia-Argeş, Maramureş-Sătmar and Suceava. (Marin Pintilie) The type of organization in the church is Presbyterian-Episcopal, which means that, in most cases, decisions are taken by a group of leaders elected by members of the community. This group, in turn, has a leader whose final word is decisive, and who is assisted by a group of councillors (7-11 men, who are deacons or presbyters, 5

6 depending on the number of members in the church). Usually, a church with members has a council made up of 7-9 people. A church with over 200 members has a council consisting of 9, 11, or 13 persons. Sometimes, but not often, decisions are taken by consulting with the plenary meeting. (Marin Pintilie) The leadership of a church includes one or more pastors, depending on the number of members, and a committee elected by the congregation. Usually, the members of the committee also have the role of presbyters or deacons, and are subordinated to the pastor. For the decision-making process, there is an electoral regulation, even though this is rather guidance. Thus, the local churches can make decisions that differ from those stipulated in the regulations, if they are within the limits of sensible tolerance, and if they have the vote of the significant majority. To solve problems that occur at the local level, the electoral regulations are to be observed. (Marin Pintilie) The pastor and the committee meet in an ordinary monthly meeting. If there are cases of emergency, they are resolved immediately. In such cases, the committee meets immediately, even if there has already been a meeting that month. In the monthly meetings, they usually review the issues that need attention and solution, those that have not been solved yet and the new issues. Also, the committee has a mandate to decide in what way to spend the existing funds. (Marin Pintilie) As concerns the schedule of the local church, there are both general criteria that apply to it, and particularities of each institution. Thus, all Pentecostal churches hold mass on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 12 noon, and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. In addition, there is a weekly meeting, usually on Thursday afternoon, as well as special meetings on holidays. The local churches are free to decide whether these weekly meetings should be held on Thursdays or on other days of the week. In addition to these meetings, each church establishes what activities are organised in the church on the remaining days (choir rehearsals, brass band, Bible study groups, prayer groups, etc.). (Marin Pintilie) We should note that all churches that belong to the Pentecostal cult have a common program to study the Bible. This program is generally respected by all pastors. Again, they have the power to change the topic of the sermon planned for a certain day depending on the needs of the church. (Marin Pintilie) As we have already mentioned, the leadership of the local church is granted to a pastor, assisted by a committee. In order for a man to become a pastor, he must go through certain steps: hold the position of deacon or presbyter, qualify in theology as a result of the examination taken at the University of Bucharest or Babeş-Bolyai University of Cluj, and be married. In addition, there has to be a church or several churches with an available pastoral centre. There are cases when the pastors obtained their theological qualifications from institutions in the country or abroad that are not accredited, or they have only attended courses in pastoral theology after finishing secondary school, but have not obtained qualifications. Also, the cult has three institutions of secondary theological education, and two post-secondary schools where people can study Pentecostal doctrines, so as to become a pastor. Even in these circumstances, the applicant must meet the other three requirements. For a pastor to be ordained in a certain church, there are three situations that can occur: he is either appointed by the 6

7 leaders of the cult, or elected by the church, or requested by another church. (Ioan Ceuţa) A pastor can serve either a large congregation, or a group of smaller congregations. In order to solve the problems that pastors who must serve several smaller congregations (10-15 churches with people) are faced with, a restructuring of the sectors has been suggested. In the new structure, each pastor would have 4-5 churches, in the ideal case, but could have as many as 7-8 congregations. The pastor has both spiritual and managerial responsibilities. Within the spiritual ones, which he shares with the ordained members presbyters and deacons he initiates, manages and takes on responsibility for: preaching the Bible, visiting the sick, spiritual counselling, organising youth activities, evangelisation, (events that target especially those people that are not members of the Pentecostal cult), organizing meetings where the topic of discussion is women s, or men s issues. Some pastors also have spiritual duties in churches of Romanian immigrants, who are uninitiated, and therefore find it hard to solve complex issues that they can come up against in the community. (Victor Opriş) As regards the financial responsibilities, the pastor takes on responsibility for the first signature in banking documents and payment orders; although he is an important authority, he cannot make decisions on his own, but must have the consensus of the committee. (Marin Pintilie) Locally speaking, there is quite some mobility in what regards Pentecostal pastors. Thus, they preach in different churches in the country, and they are invited to deliver speeches at conferences, seminars, in churches that have special programs of evangelisation. Also, there is some international mobility among them: pastors from abroad preach in Romanian churches, and vice versa. In general, pastors participate in monthly conferences, in pastoral conferences that take place every three months, in annual congresses and congresses that are held every four years. (Marin Pintilie) The salary of Pentecostal pastors is ensured from the funds of the cult, and from the subsidies provided by the Romanian State. This support consists in the minimal wage and is granted to both pastors (representing over 40% of his income), and to the employee that attends to the cleaning of the church. The rest of the salary is provided from the funds of the church (contributions of the congregation members, donations) they belong to. (Ioan Şerban) There are situations in which an entire community (e.g., the one in Brasov) decided to reject state subsidies and pay the pastor from their own resources. In addition to such cases, there are situations when, though the community accepts the subsidies, some pastors in that community state on their own will that they renounce this support from the state. (Marin Pintilie) As some of the interviewees point out, there have been cases in which some pastors did not receive a salary for several months on end. (Victor Opriş) The interviewees emphasised that the subsidy only covers the taxes that the church must pay to the state budget. Even if a community accepts the subsidy, this does not mean that the money is enough to pay all the pastors. The number of subsidies is set, and it may not cover all the pastors salaries in a regional community. In this case, it is preferred that the money be given to pastors in the rural areas who serve several smaller congregations that are 7

8 spread out on a large area, and therefore have higher expenditure. Although there is an annual report on the number of pastors and members of the congregations, which should lead to the increase of the subsidies in case of increased numbers, things do not always happen like that. The pastors salaries differ depending on their rating (1 st, 2 nd, and 3 rd ), which further depends on the period of time they have been working as pastors, and on their qualifications. Generally, they are equivalent to the teachers salaries in middle schools. It is also noteworthy that some pastors have second jobs that ensure their monthly income. (Teodor Dronca) In conformity with the way the cult operates currently, the church rules (regulations that apply to the servants of the church: pastors, deacons, and presbyters) have changed as compared to those issued in 1950, and which lays down that the pastor is elected by the church, together with a committee consisting of a maximum number of 11 people. 4. Territorial distribution of the cult The Romanian Pentecostal Cult is divided into 8 regional communities. The centre is in Bucharest, but at a different address from that of the Bucharest regional centre. The regional communities and the counties that belong to them are: 1. Bucureşti counties: Bucureşti, Teleorman, Giurgiu, Ilfov, Ialomiţa, Călăraşi, Vrancea, Buzău, Dâmboviţa, Giurgiu; 2. Oltenia - Argeş counties: Argeş, Olt, Vâlcea, Gorj, Mehedinţi, Dolj, Vâlcea; 3. Cluj counties: Cluj, Bistriţa-Năsăud, Mureş, Harghita, Sălaj şi Alba; 4. Braşov counties: Braşov, Covasna, Harghita, Sibiu, Prahova, Buzău; 5. Arad counties: Arad, Timiş, Caraş Severin, Hunedoara; 6. Oradea county of Bihor; 7. Maramureş and Sătmar counties: Maramureş, Satu Mare; 8. Suceava counties: Suceava, Botoşani, Neamţ, Iaşi, Bacău and Vaslui. At present there are negotiations to set up the Constanţa regional community, including the counties of Constanţa, Tulcea, Brăila and Galaţi. (See Appendix 1) 5. Demographic data a. Believers Since 1922, the number of Pentecostal believers has risen significantly, though the rate of growth cannot be calculated due to lack of data. Until 1950, when they were officially recognised, the denomination was not accounted for in censuses, and the members of the cult were included in the same category as the other Evangelic cults (Baptists and Evangelical Christians). According to sources in the community (The Heart of the Lord beats for Romania, 2002), in 1940 there were 25,000 members, and by 1950 the figure went up to 36,000. In 1980 (The Heart of the Lord beats for Romania, 2002) the number of people who belonged to this cult more than doubled, reaching 75,000. In the 1992 census, 219,151 people stated that they were Pentecostal, while in the next census (2002) the figure was 330,486 (Populaţie. Structură Demografică, 2002). However, according to the data in the International Dictionary of 8

9 Pentecostal Charismatic Movements (published in 2001, cited by Cristian Vasile Roske, spokesman of the Pentecostal Cult), their number is 859,000, two and a half times more than the figure that came up in the census of The leaders of the cult also believe that the number of members exceeds the figure resulting from the census, and if the number of Charismatic believers (366,000) and of non-charismatic ones (124,000) are added, as C. V. Roske points out, the total number rises to 1,350,000. As leaders of the cult stated, to this figure we can add the 20,000 Pentecostal members in the Diaspora. In 1992 (Populaţie. Structură Demografică, 1994) there were 380,086 Evangelic Christians (Baptists, Christians after the Gospel, and Pentecostal), which were 2% of the total population of Romania, while in 2002 there were 440,000. As the interviewees point out, this growth was negatively influenced by the emigration of the youth toward west. Thus, after the 1989 Revolution the immigrant Romanian Pentecostals started dozens of churches in their new countries (Marin Pintilie). However, the same report mentions that Romania has the third largest number of Evangelic Christians in Europe (The Heart of the Lord beats for Romania, 2002). The data of the census held in Romania at the beginning of 2002 reveal that the number of Pentecostals (those that state they belong to this cult) rises to 330,486, which is 1.5% of the total population of the country (Marin Pintilie). This figure shows a significant growth as compared to the data recorded in the 1992 census. The representatives of the cult believe that this growth is due to the concerted action of three factors: due to the conversion of people who have witnessed miracles in the life of Pentecostal believers (for instance, miraculous healings); due to the conversion of individuals as a result of the zeal to tell others ; and due to biologic growth. Another factor, even if not so significant, is the material benefits that the members can gain if they convert, as a consequence of the relations that the Pentecostals have with the West or the possibility to emigrate (Ioan Ceuta). The analysis of the confessional structure of the population of Romania (Populaţie. Structură Demografică 2002) reveals the following: 86.7% are Orthodox, 4.7% are Catholic, 3.2% Reformed, 1.5% Pentecostal (as compared to 1% in 1992), 0.6% Baptists, 0.4% Adventists, etc. Therefore, the Pentecostal congregation is the fourth most numerous. The leaders of the cult, however, question the data, and state: Of course, the data above could be imprecise. Many agents in the census, out of ill-meaning, lack of interest, or sheer rush, did not ask for information about the people s religion, assuming that they were Orthodox Christians. The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, brought out by the prestigious publishing house Zondervan (2002), dedicates over 100 pages to Romania, the first country in Europe after the number of Pentecostal believers. Along the years, many have tried to denigrate the efforts to evangelise, accusing (and even attacking) those involved in this work (ordered, in fact, by Jesus Christ - Matthew 28) of proselytism, of luring people with gifts and aid. But the accused answered promptly: Poor families are helped, regardless of their religion. They are offered free healthcare and medical services, educational services, and support for the abandoned, etc. (Vasile Roske, 2002). 9

10 It should also be noted that approximately 90% of the children who grow up in Pentecostal families, families with a high birth rate, become followers of the same religion (Marin Pintilie). b. Churches The counties where most believers live are: Arad, Bihor, Bistriţa-Năsăud and Suceava. There are significant numbers in the counties of Cluj and Timiş, also (Populaţie. Structură Demografică, 2002). The community of Arad, the oldest in Romania, has 550 churches (out of which 123 are in Arad county). In addition to these, there are 39 affiliates emerging churches -, in which there are 100 pastors, approximately 300 deacons and over 200 presbyters. The number of believer members is 14,000, and 9,300 children (Teodor Dronca). As for the number of prayer houses, it must be stated that while in 1995 there were 1,343 churches, 7,879 affiliates attended by 345 pastors (The Heart of the Lord beats for Romania, 2002), by 2000 the number of churches grew to 2,200. According to the same report, while in 1989 in 66 of the towns and 1886 of the villages there were no Evangelic churches, by 2000 the number of towns without such churches dropped to 11, and in the case of villages the situation changed similarly. In the same year, in 3,023 villages there were prayer houses or churches. Of the 2,311 Pentecostal churches, most are in the following counties: Bihor (223), Timiş (184), Arad (156), Cluj (150) and Suceava (142). As regards the distribution of churches in the historical regions of Romania, most are in Transylvania and Banat, but their number is significant in Bucovina, too (The Heart of the Lord beats for Romania, 2002). c. Distribution of Pentecostal believers in the urban and rural areas While 40.2% of the Pentecostals (132,919) live in urban areas, 59.8% (197,567) (Populaţie. Structură Demografică, 2002) live in villages. According to the interviewees, generally speaking, there are fewer churches in towns and cities, but there are more members in urban congregations (500-1,000 or over; in Timişoara, for instance, the number of people in a congregation is over 5,000). In the villages, there are more churches and prayer houses, but with fewer members per congregation. There are a few exceptions to this, such as Vicovul de Sus, Grăniceşti, Margina, Arbore, Dumbrăveni, Dobric, Maior, Feldru, and Rednişoara, where the number of members is high, sometimes even over 2,000 (Marin Pintilie, Ilie Jolta). In general, the percentage of Pentecostal believers in a town does not exceed 20-30% of the total population. There are, however, exceptional situations, when the number of Pentecostals is higher than that of other religions. Thus, in Dobric, Bistriţa Năsăud County, 80% of the population belongs to the Pentecostal congregation (Ilie Jolta). d. Distribution of Pentecostals by ethnic groups ethnic groups represented in the cult and their proportion Most of the Pentecostal churches have Romanian-speaking members. However, there are mixed churches, too, as well as churches in which there are members of other ethnic backgrounds (Hungarian, Roma, Ukrainian, Slovak). The decision to separate 10

11 the churches by ethnic criteria (where the potential was high enough) was generally taken by minorities who wanted to have sermons in their mother tongues, and to retain some of their specific customs. Nevertheless, Romanian pastors preach in these churches, just as their pastors are invited to preach in churches of the Romanian ethnic groups. In the Pentecostal cult there are between 525 and 550 members of Hungarian language, who have set up in an association affiliated to the community of Cluj, although these members are in the counties of Hunedoara, Timiş, Bihor, Satu Mare and Târgu Mureş, counties outside of the Community of Cluj. They established Hungarian Pentecostal churches, where mass is conducted in Hungarian (Victor Opris). In this case, the presidents of the regional communities to which they belong as a result of the territorial division have no influence on these churches (Marin Pintilie). Also, in the Pentecostal cult there is a magazine of the Hungarian Pentecostal Church of Transylvania, Szivtől szivhez, published in Hungarian. As C. V. Roske estimates, the number of Hungarian believers in Romania is over 2,000. We should also mention the existence of mixed churches that have Hungarian members (as many as 50%), where the total number of the congregation is around in all. There are mixed churches in the region of Cluj Buzea (approximately half of the members are Romanian and the other half Hungarian); the area of Bistriţa Ţigău, Lechinţa and also in Oradea. In these churches, mass is conducted in Romanian and Hungarian (Marin Pintilie). In Arad, though some of the congregation are Hungarian, there are no Hungarian Pentecostal churches. As for the Roma ethnic group, there are several chuches for the Roma in Cluj, Zalău, Turda, Unirea (Alba), Bucureşti, Timişoara (which has been an authorized church for the Roma since communist times), Satu Mare, Mureş county (20 churches), Arad (4 churches), Braşov (700 Pentecostals in different churches). The representatives of the cult claim that the number of Roma Pentecostals is higher than that of Roma orthodox people (Ioan Ceuta). The idea to have a separate church for the Roma belongs to the Roma ethnics ( there have been no churches where people said, we want to separate from the Roma, and we, Romanians or Hungarians, should have a separate church ) (Marin Pintilie). This happened exactly because they were granted the freedom of opinion, of assertion, of specific manifestation (Marin Pintilie). According to the leaders of the Pentecostal church, this division does not lead to the segregation of the Roma believers; on the contrary, it favours this ethnic group. The Roma people that joined the Pentecostal movement have material advantages (Bibles, Christian literature) printed in the west in Romani. In addition, mass is conducted by Roma pastors (if this is possible), or Romanian pastors, and then the language of mass is Romanian (the sermon itself, because praying is in Romani). Even if it is held in Romanian, it differs from the Romanians mass in its way of expression. Nevertheless, one of the leaders states, The gypsies are harder to assimilate than the Romanians. They [the gypsies] feel better if they are on their own, but the Romanians also feel good without the Roma. So, where they can, they separate (Ilie Jolta). Ilie Jolta thinks that the Gospel has led to social changes, and changes in the mentality of the Roma communities that joined the Pentecostal movement. A clear example is that marriages are legalised within these communities (they were told that they cannot be baptised until they clarify their marital status). In addition, their standard of living 11

12 has risen, they don t spend money on beverages, they have started to build homes (Ilie Jolta). These actions are appreciated by the rest of the community. Grouping the Pentecostal believers of Roma ethnic background in homogeneous churches is encouraged by the state, also, through the Secretariat for Cults. Separation into churches of the Roma favoured the provision of aid for the members of this ethnic group, both aid that comes from the country, and aid from abroad, from different foundations, the Council of Europe, etc. In addition, the Secretariat for Cults is willing to pay pastors and deacons of the Roma ethnic group. In Mureş county, the Pentecostal believers in the 20 churches of the Roma wanted to be removed from the jurisdiction of the Pentecostal Cult, and set up an independent association (this was the result of the fact that they contacted a Swedish foundation which was willing to provide funds if they were organised in an independent association). Though they separated, their relations with the Pentecostal cult are amiable ( we are still friends, declares pastor Victor Opris)). However, there are Roma people who prefer to go to Romanian or Hungarian churches The Ukrainians in Romania have a few Pentecostal churches in Satu Mare county. Although they are separated from the Romanian ethnics, the religious services are held in Romanian, but worship is sometimes done in Ukrainian. In Maramureş county there are big churches (700-1,000 members of Ukrainian ethnicity) in which mass is held in Ukrainian. The pastors go to the Theological Seminary in Bucureşti and the seminars that are organised by the regional communities, like all the other pastors (Victor Opris). The Slovaks in Bihor county are grouped in some homogeneous (Slovak) Pentecostal churches (Ilie Jolta). In Arad, in Nădlac, there is a church in which half of the congregation is Romanian, and the other half is Slovak, and mass is both in Romanian and in Slovak. In addition, there are 3-4 churches for the Slovaks in the area of Lugoj. There are Serbian ethnics in the Pentecostal cult in the community of Arad, but they do not have a church of their own (Teodor Dronca). Among the ethnic groups listed as represented in the Pentecostal Church, the Germans should also be mentioned. There are German churches in the area of Sibiu and Mediaş, but at present their number has dropped because of their immigration to Germany (Mihai Rădulescu). 6. Economic status. Information about the economic situation The regional Pentecostal communities are self-sustaining. They use membership fees (120,000 ROL/year), collections in the church, donations from the members, nominal contributions of the members of the cult (the tenth part of their monthly income) and other income (special help from other churches, from believers abroad). Out of the total amount, 20% goes to the administrative department of the cult, and some of the money goes to the Theological Seminary in Bucureşti (Victor Opris). Although the membership fee is 120,000 ROL/year for each member, the results of the balance show that only 50% of the amount is registered. In these cases, the subsidies given by the state are extremely welcome, especially because the Pentecostal believers must pay taxes and dues, thus contributing to the funds to support cults (Ilie Jolta). 12

13 In the interviews, some pointed out that the Pentecostals are faithful and hardworking people, who receive the teaching of the Bible related to their duty toward the state and the church. One of the ways in which this shows in everyday life is that our prayer houses, our churches are new buildings, built mostly with the support and contribution of the members (Ilie Jolta). As regards the economic status of the Pentecostal followers, in the interviews it was revealed that there are two important aspects: on the one hand, by not drinking alcohol and not smoking, they save a lot as compared to other people in other cults, whose doctrine allows the consumption of alcohol and cigarettes. On the other hand, given the policy in support of increased birth rate in the Pentecostal communities, and therefore the large families that must be provided for (17-18 children sometimes), there are difficulties that the families are faced with (Victor Opris). Also, it must be pointed out that after the 1989 Revolution those who emigrated (in the communist regime, for reasons of religious persecution) had the means to provide money for those who remained at home, so that they could start a business. This led to better life standards for those who did so, as well as their employees (usually Pentecostals themselves). Thus, the Pentecostal congregation has many poor people, but it also has very rich people prosperous businessmen who donate important amounts of money to the church. It is common practice in the cult for people to help each other, and the poor are taught how to manage their money (Ilie Jolta). In addition, they collect money for the poor, or those who left the country remember that they had left behind a difficult situation, and send aid that is then directed to the poor (Teodor Dronca). 7. Activities carried out by the church Like in the case of any other church, the main activity carried out by the Pentecostal Church is the spiritual one. Spreading the Gospel, spiritual counselling, Sunday schools, training for the pastors, presbyters, deacons, youth leaders, etc. usually, the Sunday morning meetings of the community include: prayer time (from 9 to 10 a.m.), during which they pray, sing hymns, recite poems, followed by choir singing with/without the brass band, and read a passage from the Gospel, after which they preach. The afternoon program is somewhat like the morning one, but shorter because there is no prayer time. In parallel, there are Sunday activities for the children, under the guidance of a Sunday school teacher; they are taught lessons from the Bible in ways that are specific to their age group (they organize games, use different teaching materials, they learn songs and poems, so the lessons are attractive). In addition, there are services where they perform acts of cult: weddings, christenings, and burials. Then, there are activities occasioned by the visit of important preachers, of groups of professional singers of religious music, by the celebration of events in the life of the cult. Pentecostal churches are involved in different projects such as: Educational projects: setting up educational centres especially for the children of the Roma; Social development projects; Projects of social assistance: providing food, clothing, footwear for the poor (the churchgoers, mostly, but not only). There are projects for children in orphanages, who are given food, clothes, school materials; the children are taken in by families, 13

14 and there are some churches which started their own orphanage. Other projects focus on homeless children and people, who receive hot meals from time to time. On holidays, there are special projects to give gifts to these people. Other programmes concentrate on visiting and encouraging the sick in hospitals. They are also given food, and medicines (if that is needed or possible). Other people in the church care for the elderly, by offering them moral, spiritual and material support. Spiritual support projects: the large churches support believers that live in communities where there are no Pentecostal churches. There are also members of the congregation that take on missions of evangelisation in places where there are no neo-protestant (especially Pentecostal) believers. There are other people who get involved in evangelisation, counselling and providing support for convicts and their families. In some churches there are commercial activities, too, and the money made is used for the administration of the church or for building affiliate prayer houses. 8. NGOs that work with churches In the climate of religious freedom after December 1989, based on the laws that regulate the operation of the associative system, mainly Law 21/1924 regarding the status of legal persons until the end of 1999, with the approval of the Secretariat for Cults, the territorial courts registered over 750 religious associations and foundations. Since 2000, the Government s Ordinance no.26 for associations and foundations stipulates the setting up of non-governmental organisations (NGOs). There are two types of NGOs: those approved by the State Secretariat for Cults, which have the status of foundations or associations, and of which in 2002 there were 1,200 (according to Roske, spokesperson of the Union); NGOs that do not need an approval from the Secretariat for Cults because they do not exclusively do religious activities are simply registered in the Court of Justice. Generally, each church has at least one non-profit-making foundation. Although they have a president and a board of directors (people that belong to the Pentecostal congregation), they basically report to the pastor of the church to which they belong. The pastor is responsible for making sure that the foundation respects the spiritual conduct promoted by the church (Vasile Roske). The NGOs that work beside Pentecostal churches receive funds from believers in the country, from the Diaspora (Pentecostals that emigrated to the USA, Germany, Austria, Spain, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, and Italy), or from believers of other nationality (Germans, Americans). Of the three sources of funds, the last counts the least. The field of activities of these organisations varies widely: from helping poor families to counselling of convicts, and the elderly, to children s education, to camps for children, to support for pregnant women who have been abandoned by their husband, providing medicine, etc. There are foundations that have set as their goal to provide the necessary framework for the development of young children in the families of Pentecostals. There is a foundation that opened a chain of Christian kindergartens, where they accept children of Pentecostal families, and of others. Other NGOs focus on organising extracurricular activities for children (camps for children that come from poor families), on the education of children in orphanages; others concentrate on helping families with many children, or on evangelisation. 14

15 We must mention the projects of social reinsertion for children that leave orphanages, and end up on the street. For them, the Pentecostal organisations organise training courses in different occupations, they provide healthcare education, etc. Some organisations help people to find jobs and/or a home. Pentecostal NGOs also do evangelisation and counselling for convicts and their families. Development projects, like social assistance and educational projects, are combined with activities of evangelisation, because we believe that in the end mentality can be changed only with the help of the Bible, the Gospel. II. HISTORY 1. Important historical events Protestantism appeared in 1517, when the German Martin Luther, an ex-catholic monk, disappointed with the fall of the Catholic Church, started to preach redemption exclusively through faith. At the same time, ideas that were similar to Luther s were also spread by the Frenchman Jean Calvin and the Swiss Huldrich Zwingli, each of them suggesting corrections. Each found their followers, and the new communities, separating from the Catholic Church, were named after their initiators. (Ministry of Culture and Cults) The separation of the first wave of Protestants from the Catholic Church led to a new wave of divisions. The three initial groups of protestants had to deal with opposition from the inside, and those that left the initial groups found yet other things to change, and thus set up groups that they named differently. That is how Anabaptists (later called Baptists ), Mennonites, Arminians, Presbyterians, Episcopals, Puritans, Quakers, Shakers, Methodists, Unitarians, Adventists, Witnesses of Jehovah, Mormons, Pentecostals and many others appeared (internet). The first influences of the reform that sprang up in Europe in the 16 th century was rapidly felt in Romania, especially in Transylvania. In this part of present-day Romania the Saxons (German speaking population) and the Hungarians were attracted by the reform: the Saxons by Lutheranism, and the Hungarians a significant part of them by Calvinism and Unitarianism. The reform also influenced the Romanian population, and the results were not confined to the translation of holy books (Psalms, Gospel), but also included conversion to Protestantism (report). The first Anabaptist communities appeared in Transylvania in the 18 th century. Later, after the occupation of Transylvania by the Habsburg Empire (of Catholic religion), the Anabaptists were subjected to persecution of the authorities, who exerted their influence by forced conversion and persecution of members of other religions. As a result, some of the Anabaptists were converted to Catholicism, and others migrated to the territories north of the Black Sea, where they had an important role in the dissemination of the Evangelical denominations (report). The Evangelical communities reappeared in the present-day territory of Romania only at the end of the 19 th century and the beginning of the 20 th. The first that appeared in the second half of the 19 th century were the Baptists, who spread to the entire territory of the country. At the same time, in Bucharest they started the Movement of 15

16 Evangelical Christians, which was the beginning of the current of awakening and renewal in the Orthodox Church. This movement was known as the God s Army (1923) (report). Against this background, 1922 saw the beginning of the Pentecostal movement in Romania. The first Pentecostal Church in Romania opened on September 10, 1922 in Paulis, Arad County, in the house of Gheorghe Bradin, a Transylvanian Romanian who returned from the United States. Prior to this, he had corresponded with his relatives and friends who emigrated to the United States, and with pastors, whether Romanian or American, on topics such as the christening of the Holy Spirit, and the experience of the miraculous healing of his wife, who suffered from tuberculosis. Back in the country, he started to preach in neo-protestant churches the doctrine of filling with the Holy Spirit, managing to find followers and to organise a local Pentecostal church. By the end of 1922, the congregation had 30 members (Marin Pintilie). Despite some persecutions that it was subjected to before and especially during the Second World War, the Pentecostal cult spread gradually to other regions of the country, especially the north of Moldavia, Banat and Crisana. The Romanian National Association of Pentecostal Believers was set up in 1924 (report). A few months later, in February 1923, the second Pentecostal church appeared in the house of some believers in Cuvin, another commune in Arad county. At that time, independently from the movements in Transylvania, there appeared new communities in Bucovina. From this period, the movement spread rapidly especially in Banat, Crişana, Transilvania and Northern Bucovina (northern Moldavia), which raised the concern of religious and state authorities at the time. These beginnings were faced with nationalist policies that flourished in Romania in the period after the unification of Transylvania with the Old Kingdom (1918) (report). The Constitution of 1923 (see Chapter III) stipulated the freedom of Romanians, regardless of religious affiliation, but at the same time, in other articles, limited the activity of other cults than the Orthodox. The first attempts to get the Pentecostal church officially recognised were made in 1922, but the authorities ignored the appeals. Thus, when one of the Romanian Pentecostals, a citizen of the United States, came to visit Romania, he was arrested, which led to intensified efforts to obtain recognition of the Pentecostal Cult by the Romanian state. To the request handed in by the Pentecostals, the first reaction of the authorities was Decision no of the Ministry of Cults of 29 January 1925, in which, among the prohibited religious associations in Romania, there were the Pentecostals. This document was the first official attestation that on the territory of the Romanian state there was a Pentecostal cult. In addition, this document also stirred other people s interest for the new movement (Marin Pintilie). In 1926 there were already six churches in Arad County (Păuliş, Cuvin, Arad- Micălaca, Măderat, Pâncota and Şoimoş). In the following years, there were new churches in different regions of the country: Bihor, Banat, Oltenia, Bucovina, Moldavia, Basarabia. In the area of the Târnave there was a movement of spiritual awakening of the Lutherans of German nationality (Saxons), which rallied around the town of Mediaş, and developed separately from the rest of the Pentecostal movement. 16

17 Thus, between 1923 and 1927 some churches appeared in Dîrlos, Curciu, Boian, etc. (Marin Pintilie). In 1928 there was a meeting in Păuliş, where the Pentecostals decided to reorganise the Pentecostal Church and to carry on the efforts to obtain official recognition. As a result of the decisions taken in this meeting, in January 1929, they published the first magazine, entitled Glasul Adevărului [The Voice of Truth], printed in Brăila under the editorship of Ioan Bobodea. The magazine changed its name in March 1929 to Cuvântul Adevărului [The Word of Truth]. In the same year, 1929, representatives of the Pentecostal Movement decided to change the name to the Apostolic Church of God, and under this name they forwarded to the Ministry of Cults a new request to obtain official recognition (registered with no ) on 15 June, The answer came in the form of Decision no /1929, which recognised that the Pentecostal doctrine did not contain anything against public order, good morals and nothing harmful to the recognised cults, but the interdiction to operate legally was still withheld. In Decision no /1934, the Ministry of Cults was giving the first sign of understanding, asking the prefects to write reports on the conduct of Pentecostal believers. Although the majority of the reports were favourable, no official recognition was obtained (Marin Pintilie). The 30s (20 th century) saw in Romania the ascent of the extreme right, and Romanianism was also promoted by the slogan, to be Romanian one needs to be Orthodox. Against this background, the Evangelical confessions, together with the other denominations, except for the Orthodox and Roman-Catholics, were subjected to legal discrimination. The Baptists and the Christians of the Gospel, after national and international insistence, obtained the statute of religious association, which provided the minimal framework to carry on with activities specific to religious life. The Pentecostals, because they did not manage to get official recognition, although they had tried hard several times, were under the umbrella of recognised religious confessions. However, in 1937, the magazine that the cult published, Cuvântul Adevărului, was forbidden by the authorities (Marin Pintilie). Despite all these difficulties, the Pentecostal church spread to all the regions of the country, but the number of believers was still higher in the western part of the country and in Bucovina. In the same period, the first movements of separation appeared within the Pentecostal church, especially as a result of doctrinal aspects. The effect of these tendencies was felt through the appearance, at the end of 1945, of three Pentecostal groups: one with the centre in Arad, and the other two with centres in Bucharest, at different addresses (Marin Pintilie). During the entire inter-war period, besides the obstacles raised by the refusal to be officially recognised, the Pentecostal movement had to fight the persecution started by the authorities, especially the ecclesiastic ones. Numerous believers were beaten up, fined, arrested, dragged to court, sent to prison or even died for their creed. The period of the Second World War, with the pro-nazi policy led by the Government in Bucharest, had negative effects on the Pentecostal community. Law no. 927/1942 stipulated that all the religious associations in the country must be abolished, and their goods, estate, funds and archives must be passed on the state patrimony. Churches were closed down or turned into warehouses, believers meetings were declared illegal, 17

18 and the orthodox clergy had the clear task to destroy evangelical communities. The effects of this campaign were visible in trials and sentences passed to believers of evangelical cults, who were later imprisoned or sent to the front or in concentration camps. (The Heart of the Lord beats for Romania, 2002) The period between was for the Pentecostals the preparatory stage to move into legality. Within a preliminary conference to reorganise the Pentecostal movement, in January 1945, a meeting that took place in Pâncota, Arad county, it was decided that a permanent delegation would be established to handle all the issues connected to obtaining official recognition. Thus, two request/applications were sent to the Ministry of Cults and Arts, and to the Ministry of Justice. In August 1945 they started printing the magazine, this time entitled Promoters of the Gospel. (Marin Pintilie ) On May 29, 1946, in a memorandum registered at the Ministry of Cults under registration no , a group of Pentecostals applied for the recognition of an association named "God s Apostolic Church" based in Bucharest. The memorandum was accompanied by a short presentation of the principles of faith, as well as the bylaws of internal functioning of the association. Based on the approval of 24 June, 1946, no. 32, issued by the Council of Inspectors within the Ministry of Cults, as well as the approval of the Court, the Ministry of Cults, through decision no , published in the Official Monitor of August 8, 1946, no. 182, recognised the association as being legal and approved its functioning. Below is a copy of the decision of the Ministry of Cults, translated into English: "We, the State Secretary of the Department of Arts and Ad-Interim of the Department of Cults, after considering the application of the religious Association God s Apostolic Church, also called Pentecostal, in Romania, registered at the Ministry of Cults under r. no of 1946, as a Short Statement of the Principles of Faith and the Bylaws of Internal Organisation of the Association, also considering the Approval no. 32 of 24 June, 1946 of the Council of Inspectors and the Approval of the Court, issued in connection with the above-mentioned request: Based on Article I, Law no. 384 regarding the organisation of the Ministry of Cults, and article 24 of the Law of the General Operation of Cults of 1928: Decide: Art.1. God s Apostolic Church, also called Pentecostal, of Romania, at 155, Ecaterina Bazilescu st., is recognised temporarily as a religious association until the issue of the new law of cults, and it can therefore practice in freedom all acts of cult, enjoying the full liberty of religious operation and manifestation. Art.2. The religious association mentioned, in all the public acts and actions will respect the language and the official calendar of the State, the laws and regulations in force, public order and good morals, avoiding any acts of proselytism toward other cults or religious associations. Art.3. The statement of faith and the statute of organisation of the association, put in accord with the stipulations of laws for the general operation of cults, will be published in the Official Monitor subsequently. Art.4. The Director of Cults is made responsible for carrying out the present decision. Ad-Interim Minister (ss) M. Ralea 18

19 No ( The official recognition was hastened by the Conference of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the big powers, held in 1946, when Romania was asked to respect the religious liberty of all cults and religious associations. The Ministry of Cults issued a press release by which he recommended that the law enforcement and administrative agencies grant the freedom of allowed and not allowed religious meetings, so that all the cults could send their delegates to the Ministry of Cults to develop the new law of cults. Thus the Ministry of Cults issued Decision no /1946, published in the Official Monitor only on 3 June 1947, through which it recognised temporarily the religious Association called God s Pentecostal Church, based in Arad. After a short while, however, the authorities started to put pressure on the magazine Vestitorul Evangheliei [Promoters of the Gospel], the last issue of which appeared in February, 1948 (Marin Pintilie). The period between 1948 and 1950, the year of official recognition, meant for the Pentecostal cult a period of intense campaigns to reunite the three groups; the campaign ended in the spring of 1950, when the two groups based in Bucharest united with the Pentecostal association in Arad. In 1948, the Ministry of Cults issued Decree no. 177 of August 4, 1948, published in the Official Monitor of August 4, 1948; this was the legal document whose stipulations are still in force in the absence of a Law of Cults, the law that the parliament of Romania has been working on since This legal document granted the freedom of religious expression to the cults recognised until that time, also set the legal framework to claim recognition, but imposed upon the leaders of the churches to make an oath of loyalty to the Ministry of Cults. The recognition of the leaders of cults was granted by the Great National Meeting (GNM), the supreme legislative organ of the old regime (communism). Also, all the cults had to hand in their statute of organisation to the Ministry of Cults, for approval by the Board of the GNM (Art. 56, Decree no. 177, of August 4, 1948). On November 14, 1950, the Board of the Great National Meeting of the People s Republic of Romania issued Decree no. 1203, in which it approves the functioning of the Pentecostal Church under the name Pentecostal Cult God s Apostolic Church, based on the statute of organisation and functioning, the statement of faith, taken, in accordance with the decree of 1948, at the Ministry of Cults. (pastor) One year after the official recognition, in July 1951, they held the first Congress of the Pentecostal believers, with the participation of delegates from all the churches. During the Congress they elected the new leaders, and considered the settlement of doctrinerelated issues, by organising debates and Biblical courses in different centres in the country. On September 1, 1953, they re-started the publication of the magazine of the cult, entitled Buletinul Cultului Penticostal [Newsletter of the Pentecostal Cult], because the old titles were not accepted by the authorities. In the next year, 1954, the central office moved from Arad to Bucharest (The Heart of the Lord beats for Romania, 2002). The new religious freedom, which had just been granted, was soon followed by antireligious political measures taken by the communist authorities. The number of masses 19

20 was reduced to only two a week Saturday evening and Sunday morning, then the believers were allocated to different churches so as to reduce the number of prayer houses for which applications were filed, thus practically refusing to issue authorisations that allowed the operation of already existing churches or churches that were being built. The communist regime also censored the magazine, then forbade the publication of religious books, and made it impossible to start a Theological Seminar / Secondary school. This seminar only started its activity in the autumn of 1976 (Marin Pintilie). Despite all these, the religious activity in the communities continued. Periodically, Biblical courses were held ( ), with the duration of approximately three months. This was repeated in the period between Nevertheless, the communist regime started to make its anti-christian and antireligious policy more and more open. Representatives of the Department of Cult, in collaboration with officers of the state security, started to control and influence the structure of divine services, to promote or put down preachers or leaders of the cults, and to control important religious manifestations (approval for conferences, congresses, relations abroad, publications, courses). In the communist period, the state was directly involved in the activities of the Pentecostal cult. For each christening, a list of the applicants had to be approved by the territorial inspectorate of the Secretariat for Cults. For all the investments that were made, the approval of the same inspector was needed. Other ways of repression practised by the regime were: difficulties caused by the representatives of the power in the recognition and acceptance of pastors, exclusion from the Union of Communist Youth of the members and sympathisers of the cult, disciplinary transfer and fine paid by those who kept Bibles or other religious materials, refusal to admit young Pentecostals to College to study humanities. (Marin Pintilie) After the events of the Prague spring (1968), there were short periods of relaxation, when the new regime of Ceausescu was appreciated at the international level. In order to keep the sympathy of the west, the government in Bucharest tried to moderate its anti-religious actions, and in this period they set free some of the major representatives of the Evangelical cults, who had been kept in prison (Marin Pintilie). In 1976, the Ministry of Education approved and opened the Theological Seminary, which only brought out one class of graduates every four years; the number of students was gradually reduced from 15 in to 10 between , and then 5 in , when the Department of Cults approved the admission of three students every year. However, despite all the obstacles, the writing, printing, translation of Christian materials continued all this time to support the courses of the Seminar (Marin Pintilie). In the same period, they managed to obtain approvals to build new churches in Bucharest, Cluj, and Baia-Mare. At the same time, the anti-religious actions of the communist regime were manifest in that they demolished and closed down churches, under various pretences, forbade the building of new ones, forbade the printing of religious texts, and many believers had to hide Bibles, religious books and treatises, as they were interrogated by the authorities of the period (Marin Pintilie). 20

21 In this period, against this background, there were reactions of protest. The most significant ones took place in 1977, and then in 1978, when the actions of protest took the form of a Romanian Committee for the Defence of Religious Freedom and Evangelical Conscience. In their wish to make their voices of protest heard, those who were on this committee obtained the support of some foreign Evangelical personalities, which attracted the attention of the international community for a short time (The Heart of the Lord beats for Romania, 2002) was regarded by the believers as a new beginning. The new and young democracy allowed the revival of hope. The first event that took place in the postrevolutionary period of the Pentecostal Church was the 4 th Congress, held in Cluj in May 1990, where they elected the representatives of the cult at the national level (president, vice-president, secretary general and chief editor of the magazine). The magazine returned to its old inter-war title, Cuvântul Adevărului [The Word of Truth]. In addition, new publications of the same type appeared: Mesajul Evanghelic [Evangelical Message] (in Oradea), Flacăra Rusaliilor [Flame of the Pentecost] (in Sebiş, Arad County), Lumina vechilor cărări [Light of the Old Paths] (in Suceava) (The Heart of the Lord beats for Romania, 2002). From the legal point of view (see chapter III) the Constitution of 1991 allows religious activities, with no restriction as regards the cults that are officially recognised by the Romanian state. While in the communist period there were three territorial branches of the Pentecostal cult (Arad, Oradea and Suceava, as the one in Cluj was abolished in 1959), after 1989 the cult was reorganised in more, smaller regional communities: Arad, Braşov, Bucureşti, Cluj, Oradea, Oltenia-Argeş, Maramureş-Sătmar and Suceava. The development of religious life in Romania is evident in that there are over 200 parachurch organisations, which help the evangelical believers in their efforts to evangelise. In the centres of the regional communities there are Theological Colleges, and in Piteşti, Timişoara, Arad, and Oradea there are Pentecostal Theological Secondary Schools that are integrated in the network of schools administered by the Ministry of Education and Research. There are Biblical institutions and training programmes for the preparation of leaders. There are hundreds of missionary establishments, there are Christian films, and as a result of an alliance of Neoprotestant cults (Baptists, Pentecostals, Christians after the Gospel, and a wing of the movement the Army of God) the radio station called Vocea Evangheliei [Voice of the Gospel] appeared, with local stations in Bucureşti, Timişoara, Oradea, Cluj, Sibiu and Suceava, and a new station planned to be started in Braşov. The editors of this station, the speakers and the technical department come from four religions, and the broadcasts are transmitted by different local stations so as to ensure a wide coverage. Trans World Radio is also such a Christian station which broadcasts Christian programmes all over Romania, and the listeners have access to an increasing number of audio and videotapes recorded with Christian music and films (The Heart of the Lord beats for Romania, 2002). The Pentecostal Church has an official press agency called "Cuvântul Adevarului" [The Word of Truth]. Also, they publish religious books, books for the training of the servants in colleges and at the Theological Pentecostal Institute. 21

22 III. GENERAL LEGAL STATUS 1. The History of the Legal Status of the Pentecostal Church in Romania The Constitution of 1923 stipulated (in articles 5 and 7) equality of rights of all Romanians, regardless of their religion. A privileged status was granted to the Orthodox Church and the Greek-Catholic Church, as they were considered Romanian churches. They were given priority in front of other churches and religious cults in Romania. The Romanian Orthodox Church had the status of the dominating church. In fact, the management of the Orthodox Church, as it is mentioned in the Constitution, was done through its own organs, which were under the control of the Romanian state. In practice, these discriminations were translated through attempts to intimidate and discourage the new churches and cults, and these obstacles came from both the religious officials and the state ones. Thus, although the first Pentecostal church in Romania was set up in 1922, the requests to grant it official recognition filed at the Ministry of Cults in 1922, and the next year, were answered in Decision no. 5734, which listed the Pentecostal cult among the forbidden religious associations in Romania. (Marin Pintilie) In February 1929, the Pentecostal movement changed its name to God s Apostolic Church. With this name, they sent a new request top the Ministry of Cults, registered under no , of June 15, In response to this new request, the Ministry of Cults issued Decision no / 1929, in which it admitted that the Pentecostal doctrine does not contain anything against public order, or good morals, and does not harm the recognised cults in any way. But the interdiction of legal operation was maintained. The same thing happened again in Decision no / (Marin Pintilie) In 1934, by Decision no , the Ministry of Cults gave the first sign of understanding, asking all the prefects to write reports about the conduct of Pentecostal believers. Although most of the reports were in favour of the Pentecostals, they were not granted official recognition. This state was maintained during the entire inter-war period, culminating with the total interdiction, under the Antonescu regime, of all Neo- Protestant associations and cults. (Marin Pintilie) In the Constitution of 1938, the same note is maintained: Article 19. As the Christian Orthodox religion is the religion of the vast majority of the Romanians, the Orthodox Church is the dominating Church in the Romanian State, and the Greek-Catholic Church has priority in front of other cults. The situation changed between the years , when gradually, the official recognition of the Pentecostal Church was finally obtained. Thus, new requests were sent to the Ministry of Cults and Arts, registered under no. 6972/ as well as to the Ministry of Justice, no / The official recognition only came in 1950, and was hastened by an international political event the Conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the big powers, in Moscow in As a result of the conference, the Romanian State was asked to respect the religious freedom of all cults and religious associations. Thus, the newspaper Universul of 22 February, 1946 published a press release of the Ministry of Cults in which the police and the 22

23 administrative authorities in the country are asked to grant the freedom of religious meetings, whether allowed or not, with the aim that they appoint their official delegates to the Ministry of Cults with a view to developing the new law of religious freedom. On May 20, 1946, the Ministry of Cults communicated officially to the centre in Arad that the meetings of the cult were approved, and that they could be held freely, until the new law came into force and regulated the situation (Marin Pintilie). By Decision no / December 23, 1946, published in the Official Monitor of June 3, 1947, the Ministry of Cults recognised temporarily the religious association, God s Apostolic Pentecostal Church. On November 14, 1950, the Board of the Great National Meeting of the People s Republic of Romania issued Decree no. 1203, signed by C. I. Parhon, in which it approved the functioning of the Pentecostal Church, under the name of Pentecostal Cult God s Apostolic Church, based on the statute of organisation and functioning, and the statement of faith, sent to the Ministry of Cults (Marin Pintilie). In 1948 the Ministry of Cults issued Decree no. 177, of August 4, 1948, which set the legal framework for the religious activities carried out in Romania, and which completed Law no. 54 of 22 April The decree stipulated (Art.1) granting religious freedom by the state (at the time the People s Republic of Romania), as well as the right to take up any religious faith, as long as its practice does not harm the Constitution, security and public order, or good morals. The decree specified the prevention of discrimination on religious grounds. This decree is the one that allowed the recognition of the Pentecostal cult. In Art. 7, it is laid down, The religious cults are free to organise and work freely if their practice and rites are not contrary to the Constitution, security or public order, and good morals. Recognition was made by means of the decree issued by the Board of the Great National Meeting (the legislative body in Romania at the time) upon the proposal made by the government, as the Ministry of Cults (Art.13), this being valid also for the leaders of cults who had to make a vow of loyalty (Art. 21). As regards politics, Art.16 specified, Organisation of political parties on confessional grounds is forbidden. The freedom to organise education to train the personnel for the cult was allowed, as long as that was done under the control of the state (Art. 44), and setting up schools and developing curricula was done by the competent organs of the religious cults, and then approved by the Ministry of Cults. In the same decree reference is made to the fact that the Orthodox Church could have, for the training of its clergy, two theological institutes at the level of higher education, the Catholic cult could have one higher education institution, with special sections, and the Protestant had one single theological institute, with the necessary special sections (Art. 49). Also for the good organisation of religious education, the government issued decree 176 of August 3, 1948, which stipulated passing into state ownership the goods of the churches, congregations, communities or private persons that had served the functioning and maintenance of the general, technical or vocational education institutions. The socialist constitutions eliminated the privileged status granted to the Romanian Orthodox Church by the constitutions of 1923 and The freedom of conscience 23

24 and religious freedom, as well as the liberty to organise and function for religious cults, which is stipulated in all the three constitutions: 1948, 1952 and The freedom that was granted was accompanied by anti-religious communist measures. A first measure was the reduction of religious services to two masses a week: Saturday evening and Sunday morning. This was followed by discontinuation of the issue of authorisations for some of the existing churches, or for those that were being established, censorship of the magazine, the lengthy approval process of books to be published and of the establishment of a theological institute of education at high school level. There were brief periods of relaxation in 1964, after the Decree of Amnesty issued by Gh. Gheorghiu-Dej, on the grounds of which the majority of political convicts were set free. A second such period came after the Prague spring, in the summer of 1968, when the response of the Ceausescu regime was appreciated at the international level. In its attempt to gain the support of the West, the government in Bucharest became more sensitive to foreign critiques, and therefore tried to moderate its anti-religious actions. In this context, they set free Vasile Rascol, Constantin Caraman (who was in prison for the second time, after the first time between , when he was taken to do forced labour at the Canal; after he was set free in 1964, he was condemned again in 1977), Constantin Tarnavschi, and Cornel Mihai, sentenced to prison for transport and illegal distribution of Bibles and religious literature (Marin Pintilie). Approved and opened in the autumn of 1976, the Theological College, under the leadership of pastor Trandafir Sandru, had a class of graduates every four years. The number of students dropped gradually: from 15 in 1976/1980; 10 in 1980/1984; 5 in the period between 1984/1988. From 1988, the Department for Cults approved the admission of three students every year. Overcoming all these obstacles, in the period after 1975, the Pentecostals published, printed and translated as many materials as they could, at least for the college courses. Also, they managed to obtain approvals for the construction of churches in Bucharest, Timişoara, Cluj, and Baia Mare. There were cases when the authorities found different reasons to demolish churches that were already built, such as the ones in Bistriţa and Câmpia-Turzii. In Cluj, the prayer house at 7, Câmpani St. was confiscated and passed on to state ownership in 1971 (Marin Pintilie). 2. Present Evolution After the revolution, the new Constitution of 1991 contains several stipulations regarding the freedom of religion and the equality of all citizens, regardless of religion. Any kind of discrimination among churches and cults that existed on the territory of Romania was eliminated by this constitutional act. Thus, Art. 4(2) states the equality of all citizens of Romania regardless of race, nationality, ethnic origin, language, religion, sex, opinion, political belonging, wealth or social origin. Article 29 of the same constitution lays down the freedom of religious faith. The same article presents the rights of religious cults to organise independently from the state, without any kind of discrimination among cults. In this legal framework, in 1992, by the Decision of the Government no. 164/April 1992, the Pentecostal Theological Institute was set up, and then recognised by the 24

25 Government of Romania by the Decision of the Government no. 442/31, July 1998, as an institution of higher education. As regards obtaining the authorisation to function and to build prayer houses and churches, there is a remarkable improvement. If before 1990 the number of authorisations reached the figure of 800, at the end of 2000, this figure was over 2,200. The beginning of 2001 coincided with the beginning of procedures to establish a Faculty of Neo-Protestant Theology within the Babeş-Bolyai University of Cluj. At present, the file has been approved by the Senate of the Cluj University, and forwarded to the National Council for Evaluation and Academic Accreditation, in order to obtain the approval of the council (Marin Pintilie). In fact, Romania is the first Central and Eastern European country where there is a law that prevents and punishes all forms of discrimination. The document is Ordinance no. 137 of August 13, It defines discrimination as any form of exclusion, restriction or privilege, based on race, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, social category, convictions, sex or sexual orientation, belonging to a disadvantaged category or any other criterion that has the goal or effect to restrain or remove the recognition, use or practice, in conditions of equality, of human rights and fundamental freedoms or the rights recognised by law, in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other domain of public life. Also, the Ordinance establishes that an administrative organ shall be set up (i.e. the National Council for Combating Discrimination) to supervise the application of the present document. This council has been operating since August The Revolution has not brought along any change in the legislation as regards the field of religious cults. Thus decree 1203 of November 14, 1950 is still in force. A new draft law is being discussed to regulate the way cults function; this is meant to supersede Decree 1203, but the draft law was withdrawn from discussions, because it raised too many questions from the representatives of the cults who were consulted before the draft law went to the Parliament. However, it is necessary to have a law of cults, to regulate the operation of the officially unrecognised cults, and which at present operate as NGOs. In regard to the Pentecostal cult, its present status is different from that in 1950, when the cult was officially recognised, but this is not really a problem for the Secretariat for Cults ( Vasile Roske). As regards the recognition of the president of the cult, this is done like in the case of all the other officially recognised cults - by a presidential decree. Also, the Pentecostal cult has a chaplain in the army with the rank of major, who belongs to the Evangelical Alliance. He is Baptist and serves all the cults of the alliance (Vasile Roske). IV. EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES In Romania, religious education is done in state schools. These lessons are part of the curriculum approved by the Ministry of Education and Research. The students are grouped depending on their parents religion. The classes are taught by teachers that graduated from accredited theological institutions of higher education, and they are paid by the Ministry of Education and Research, with which they sign a contract. In 25

26 some cases, if a child cannot by any means participate in the religious education classes (because it does not fit his/her timetable), s/he can produce a note from the secretariat of the church to which s/he belongs, saying that s/he attends religious education classes organised by the church. As regards the religious education lessons that the children of Pentecostals attend, it seems that the principals of the schools are understanding and they have created the necessary space so that the children of Baptists, Pentecostals, and Christians after the Gospel can be grouped and taught in the same class. There have been some problems, but only raised by the local authorities (priests, influential school principals). The problem was that the children could not do the lessons provided for in the curriculum because of their religion. But all these problems were solved as soon as the Ministry of Education and Research learnt about them. (P) As for the Pentecostal cult, besides the classical educational system there is an evangelical education that allows the believers interested in becoming missionaries to improve their Biblical knowledge, such as the Biblical Inter-confessional school of Romania, the Mission and Evangelisation School of Dobrogea, and the East-European Biblical College. 1. The present-day situation at different levels a. Kindergarten and primary education The interviewees point out that there are numerous Christian kindergartens that were set up by Evangelical churches. The Foundation called Samariteanul set up a chain of kindergartens in several cities in the country. There are such kindergartens in Cluj, Bucureşti, Sâmbăteni (Arad county, 40 children), Oradea, Baia Mare (40 children), Aleşd (45 children); in some towns there can be as many as 100 children in these kindergartens. It is noteworthy that these kindergartens are also attended by children of other religions, due to the equipment that they have, the way the children are taught, and the promotion of Biblical ethics and Christian morals. (V. Roske) The Pentecostal cult has a primary school in Timişoara which has been operating since 2001, and has a 1 st and 2 nd grade. In the curriculum of Pentecostal schools (grades 1-12) they include disciplines such as: Christian morals, the Old Testament, the New Testament, Biblical doctrines, and Evangology. b. Middle and secondary school There are Pentecostal and Evangelical middle schools and secondary schools, which work together with the other neo-protestant cults in the Evangelical Alliance. In the country, there are five Pentecostal secondary schools in: Piteşti; Bucureşti (in general there are two parallel classes of 25 students each); Arad; Timişoara; where there are also middle school classes; Oradea, which are managed by the Pentecostal churches in the area; that is, they are not private secondary schools, but normal state schools administered by the Ministry of Education and Research. In these schools there are more lessons of religious education (Biblical studies, chapel, etc). In addition to these, there is a mixed school, the Emanuel Secondary School of Cluj, founded by the Pentecostals and Baptists, but which is also attended by children from other families that are Orthodox, Christians after the Gospel, and God s Army. In Oradea they are 26

27 building a Pentecostal school centre. Among others, this will have secondary schools with many different profiles, out of which we mention Pharmaceutics (Vasile Roske). c. Higher education In Romania, there are two institutions of higher education, the Pentecostal Theological Institute of Bucharest, and the Pentecostal Theological Faculty Betania of Arad. They both have the approval of the National Commission for Academic Evaluation and Accreditation. In the near future, these will be granted the final accreditation. Besides the two institutions, the Pentecostal cult intends (as stated by the President of the Pentecostal Union of Romania, Pavel Riviş Tipei) to set up other institutions of higher education, so that the Theological academic needs should be covered for the entire country. Within the Pentecostal Theological College of Bucharest, which is only temporarily accredited, there are 50 students who attend courses. The number of nonattending students is over 100 (in Bucharets and Arad) (Marin Pintilie, Vasile Roske). The Theological Institute of Bucharest, an institute of theological higher education, was established by the Decision of the Government no. 164/April 6, 1992, and recognised by the Government of Romania by the Decision no. 442/31, July Within the Betania Pentecostal theological Faculty of Arad there is a section of didactic theology, where the studies last for four or five years (attending nonattending), with 30 places available for each form. The Betania Faculty of Pentecostal Theology of Arad received accreditation as an institute of higher education in Pentecostal theology by the Decision of the Government no. 410 of 25 April Since the beginning of 2001 there have been initiatives to set up a Faculty of Pastoral Theology and Social Assistance within the Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj. At present, the file has been approved by the Senate of the University of Cluj, and forwarded to obtain the temporary approval for operation. Each regional community organises courses with reduced attendance within a Biblical college. In each community they can set up one or more such colleges. For instance, in Arad, there are three such schools: one for the county of Arad, one for Timiş, and one for the counties of Hunedoara and Caraş Severin. Each person in the community that wishes to become a deacon or a presbyter (servants of low ranks) must attend these Biblical schools, which last for two years, and follow the same curriculum everywhere in the country. The courses in these colleges are taught by pastors who have graduated from the College in Bucharest. The conditions for someone to study here is to have finished secondary school, and to have a recommendation from the church where he goes (Marin Pintilie). After graduation, the student receives a certificate from the Ministry of Education and Research that allows him/her to teach religious education classes. 27

28 V. COMMUNICATION AND THE AUDIOVISUAL MEDIA 1. The Press As the President of the Pentecostal Union of Romania, Pavel Rivis Tipei points out, the Pentecostal cult publishes every month or periodically several national and regional magazines. The magazine Cuvântul Adevărului comes out in 13,000 copies every month, in Bucharest, and it is distributed to all the centers in the country and in the Diaspora. In addition, there are local magazines, with smaller impact, and more or less professionally edited. These are brought out by members of different local churches that have a good financial situation or that have sponsors from abroad that are willing to pay for the magazine. Among these we should mention: Flacara Rusaliilor, which is published in Arad every month or bimonthly, Elim and Mesajul Evanghelic, both published in Timisoara, the magazine Harul, published in Huedin; Lumina vechilor carari appears in Bucovina and Northern Moldavia; these are magazines that cover the activities in the county, the church or even the community. The Pentecostal Theological Institute of Bucharest publishes the Pleroma, a biannual magazine that has theological studies and research at the academic level. The Hungarian Pentecostal Church in Transylvania also publishes a magazine called Szivtol szivhez, in Hungarian. Besides these, there are several Christian publishing houses established by the Pentecostal believers: the Light Publisher, Vida, Shalom, the publishing house of the Bucharest Pentecostal Theological Institute, the Flacara Rusaliilor publishing house, or established by the Evangelical believers of other denominations: Cartea Creştină and Casa Cărţii publishing houses. 2. Radio Under the aegis of the Evangelical Alliance there operates a radio station, the Radio Vocea Evangheliei, which broadcasts in several towns and cities: Oradea, Cluj, Sibiu, Bucharets, Craiova, Timisoara and soon in Brasov. Among the local radio stations are Alfa in Timisoara, Radio CNM in Arad, Radio Est in Brasov. Besides the programmes that they make themselves, these local posts also take over a series of programmes from the Radio Vocea Evangheliei. Locally, the Pentecostal churches buy (or are offered for free) time at the local or regional radios, and every week, or 3-4 times a week they broadcast Christian programmes of minutes. For instance, in Arad for four years they have been broadcasting a weekly 30-minute Christian programme. (Marin Pintilie) 3. Television In Arad, the Pentecostals, together with the Baptists, have a Christian programme entitled Păstorul cel bun [The Good Pastor], on a local post. The programme is shown for an hour, every morning. Half an hour of is taken up by the Pentecostals, and the other half by the Baptists. The show is funded from Portland, USA, by the Messengers Mission, and it includes general discussions on a certain topic, with guests, pastors and believers from Portland (the show is made there, and the tapes are sent ready to be shown, to Romania) (Marin Pintilie). 28

29 The same thing was tried in Oradea, with a show called Alege viaţa! [Choose Life!]. Besides the Sunday afternoon one-hour show, this time the Pentecostals and the Baptists have a show during the week, too. After almost two years of running, the show was stopped due to lack of funds. In Timişoara there is one-hour show dedicated to all the Evangelical cults. During the show they broadcast films, and a studio show called Alpha and Omega in which they record tapes with Christian programmes that are later broadcast on different local stations in the country (Ioan Serban). Tele 7 ABC shows a film of evangelisation, provided by the Evangelical Alliance in Romania. The events in the cult are also covered by the show called Viaţa Creştină [Christian Life] on the national channel TVR1 (Vasile Roske). 4. The Internet Recently, they developed a website of the Pentecostal Union ( To this we may add biserici.betesda.com, a portal dedicated to Evangelical churches in Romania, where they can have their own sites, providing a database with useful information for those who want to collaborate with other believers. Starting from the Christian Evangelic movement, the Romanian Association for Christian Media acts for the promotion and protection of the interests of its members as regards the dissemination of Christian ethic and moral values through media activities. The objectives of the association include: - Making legislative proposals in the filed of mass media ; - Developing partnerships with the public organs in the field; - Raising awareness of the public opinion to elements of violence, vulgarity, pornography, non-value in the mass media; - Protecting of journalists against any kind of pressure directed against the freedom of expression; - Promoting of respect for the professional deontology, of the principles of journalists ethnics; - Professional training for journalists; - Promoting of dialogue with institutions and forums of the press, cultural, scientific, social-human organisations in the country and abroad, with representative personalities and groups. The address of the association is flat 12, no.8, Operetei St., Timişoara. VI. PRESENT-DAY POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 1. Present-day political and social conditions. Relationship with the State. Ways in which the state protects or hinders the minority s religious activities According to the interviewees, the decision-makers generally neither support, nor prevent the activities within the Pentecostal cult. Some of the interviewees pointed out that after the Revolution in 1989 they were supported by politicians probably for reasons of image they wanted to be on good terms with the Americans, Ioan Serban. So the Pentecostals were invited to all the official events and they could organise large 29

30 events, (the evangelisation on the UTA football stadium, attended by over 30,000 people). At present, according to the respondents (Ioan Serban), such evangelisations would not be possible because a great many signatures (approvals) are needed, which are nothing but barriers in our way (Ioan Serban). They pointed out: the subsidies that they get from the state are not a favour that the state. They get this money as a result of the Orthodox Church s request that the state should subsidise the workers in the cults. Consequently, once this request was approved, all the officially recognised cults receive the subsidy (Victor Opris). There have been changes in terms of access of the religious minorities to the national television channels. Two years ago, the TV programme Viaţa spirituală [Spiritual life], on Tuesday night, ensured the possibility for representatives of different cults (Orthodox, Catholic, Neo-Protestant) to discuss and debate religious issues. However, at present the Neo-Protestant (including the Pentecostals) do not have any broadcast time on the national televisions, and the religious programme on Sunday morning usually only has one guest, who in the vast majority of cases is Orthodox, because, as the interviewee states, Neo-Protestants are now in the stage when they are tolerated, more tolerated than in the communist times (Ioan Serban). According to another leader, the present-day political context provides the freedom of the Pentecostal cult to express itself. In addition, he appreciates the governors objectiveness, in that they do not approve the unjustified claims of the Orthodox Church (e.g. their claim to be proclaimed the national church), thus supporting the equal rights of all the cults that are officially recognised in Romania (Teodor Dronca). As regards the support that the Romanian State gives to the religious movement in Romania, we can note that since 1994, there has been a partial subvention from the state budget, established on grounds of the percentage of believers in the total population of Romania. There are subventions that pay for the salary of the clergy, and at the local level there are subsidies for the support staff of churches. At the beginning, this covered 30% of the salary of support staff. At present, the pastors and the employee that cleans the church get from the state an amount that is equal to the minimal salary in the economy, and which represents about 40% of the salary of a pastor. The Secretariat for Cults has allowed the freedom for each cult to establish the salary of the servants of the cult. The rest of the salary is covered from the funds of the church (contribution of the congregation, donations). There are situations when an entire community (e.g. the community of Brasov) decided to reject the subsidy from the state, and some pastors in that community declares that they willingly give up that support from the state. However, the relations of co-operation with the political factors are good, the Pentecostals are received in the superior forums when the heads of the religious cults meet (Roske). The state should be more involved in the retrocession of confiscated goods and estate to the cults. On the other hand, the contribution that the department for Cults has made to the building of Pentecostal churches is appreciated. (Vasile Roske). In the past, when the approval to build churches was granted by the representatives of the Orthodox Church, there were different problems (see Chapter II). Meanwhile, the situation has changed and in general there are no problems in obtaining the approval 30

31 for the construction of new churches. For such an action, approval must be obtained from the local authorities, the Ministry of Public Works and Territorial Administration, and the Secretariat for Cults. Sometimes the applications are delayed or even rejected, but in general they are approved (Marin Pintilie). At present, there are no persons that have the mandate to represent the Pentecostals at the national level. In the past, locally, there were attempts to designate such a representative. Given the lack of organisation, the attempt failed (the person was not elected). In the future, better organisation is needed, so that a representative of the neo- Protestant cults gets in the Parliament. The spokesman of the cult (Vasile Roske) mentions the attempt to form an evangelical party of the Neo-Protestant cults in At present, the cult has mayors and councillors at the local level, which support the communities. As compared to the Communist period, at present the state s involvement in the activities carried out within the Pentecostal cult is restricted. As mentioned above, the state offers 40% of a pastor s salary. According to some leaders, the servants of the church should not get involved in politics (Teodor Dronca), and this is why they were recommended to be equidistant from all political parties. The situation is different in what concerns the believers, who - of course - have different political sympathies, and some of whom are members of different parties, and get elected as local or county councillors, not representing the cult, but the party they belong to. For instance, in Arad county there are 20 Pentecostal councillors (Teodor Dronca). 2. Cases of Discrimination and Violence Although one cannot speak about organised discrimination against the Pentecostals, there have been cases in which, at the local level, they have had to suffer because of some people in the community, who think that if you are not Orthodox, you are not Romanian (Ioan Ceuta). Those who mention these cases of discrimination add that they are isolated, and that they do not know situations when an individual was treated in a discriminatory manner at the workplace for their religion. In rural communities, where intolerance is higher, people who get converted from Orthodoxism to Pentecostalism may be discriminated against, not only by the religious authorities, not only by the priest and the people in the village, but even by the mayor (Ioan Serban). The most frequent cases of discrimination or violence in the community against the members of the Pentecostal cult usually happen in areas where the cult is less widespread (Oltenia, the area of Bucharest and Dobrogea the southern part of the country). In the following we will share some cases considered by the interviewees as discrimination on grounds of religion: In Mihail Kogălniceanu, (Ilfov county)in 1995 the Pentecostals, the local people and the preacher (a person who had come to evangelise from another locality) were beaten. (Marin Pintilie). 31

32 In 1990, in a village in the county of Vrancea, though he had not been granted approval by the Town Hall to use the Cultural House, the pastor who had come from Oradea and those gathered in the room were assaulted by the Orthodox priest and some of his followers. The situation turned into a conflict ( they fought ) and stopped when those who had come to spread the Gospel left the village. (Ilie Jolta) In Ciumărna, close to Zalău (Sălaj county), the Pentecostals bought a house which they intended to arrange as a prayer house (church). The other villagers, who did not want to have a Pentecostal Church in the village, broke the windows of the house, and threw all kinds of things at the house, until they almost demolished it. The conflict was resolved later, and there are no problems at present. (Marin Pintilie). Another case that was in the newspapers is that of Dobric (Bistriţa Năsăud county). The situation in this village is different: it was not the Pentecostals who were attacked, but they were the attackers. Everything started from a castle that had two owners: half of it belonged to a Pentecostal association, and the other half was of the local Orthodox Church, which wanted to turn the place into a nunnery. When the Orthodox Church obtained the approval of the County Council to change the Castle into a nunnery, they were also given the land around the place. On the other hand, the Pentecostals had asked the approval of the Town Hall to build houses on that land. The applications for the land for houses had been sent before the Orthodox Church sent the application, but they had not received an answer by the time the Orthodox Church obtained the approval for extra land for the nunnery. The reason given was that the land they had asked for (the same as the one granted to the Orthodox Church) was considered a historical site, and therefore had to be preserved. As a result of the decision to grant the land to the nunnery, the Pentecostals started building their houses on that land, without having obtained the approvals. This led to open conflict between the Pentecostals and the Orthodox. At one point the police stepped in to stop the conflict, which had meanwhile turned into a fight. The conflict was solved by the authorities: the land was not given to either group, and the Pentecostals who had applied for land to build houses were given land in another place. (Curierul Naţional, No of 29/12/1999, Daniel Diviricean, Marin Pintilie) A few years ago, in Oaş region (Maramureş county), the Pentecostals had rented the Cultural House to meet there for an evangelisation session. Although they had the approval of the Town Hall and the police, 100 Orthodox people from the village led by the priest (under the influence of alcohol) stood I front of the Cultural House (armed with knives and poles) and did not allow the Pentecostals to go in. (Victor Opris) In November 2001, in the village of Niculiţel, near Tulcea (Tulcea county), the Pentecostals and the Baptists, who were in a mission of evangelisation with the film The Life of Jesus, accompanied by two reporters (Dana Maradiu and Edi Moharu) from a local post in Constanţa, were beaten and their cameras were taken away by three priests in the village, accompanied by 200 villagers, who had been drinking alcohol. After the fight was over, the villagers went to the Town Hall to get explanations from the mayor, who had granted permission to the Baptists and Pentecostals to use the cultural house. Though the mayor was Orthodox himself, he was so angered by the villagers and the priests attitude that he resigned from his office. (Cuvântul Adevărului, no. 1/2002, Victor Opris) 32

33 Another situation, somewhat unusual, happened when a Pentecostal pastor, who was carrying out a burial ceremony, was pushed into the grave by the priest in the village and some members of his congregation, and the Pentecostals who were attending the funeral were beaten. This incident was shared with the President of the country, who decided that the priest should be removed from that village to another parish. (Victor Opris) Another type of conflict that occurs between the Pentecostals and the Orthodox is when it comes to using certain buildings (e.g. the cultural house) to organise wedding receptions. In a village in Bistriţa Năsăud county, the Orthodox do not allow the Pentecostals to use the cultural house for wedding parties. However, the father of the bride, who was Orthodox, wanted very much to organise his daughter s wedding party in that building, because he himself had also worked on it when it was being built. Because the problem could not be solved at the local level, the father went to the archbishop of Vad and Criş, Bartolomeu Anania. The problem was settled, and the wedding party was held in the cultural house. (Marin Pintilie) There are frequent disagreements between the Orthodox and the Pentecostals when it comes to the cemetery in the town or village. Until the situation of cemeteries was regulated (i.e., it was clarified who owns the cemetery), this aspect led to a lot of conflicts. Sometimes, the believers were allowed to donate land from their own property to turn into a cemetery. Now it is known that if the cemetery belongs to the Orthodox Church, then the Town Hall must allocate a separate piece of land for the religious minorities in the town to use as a cemetery. If, on the other hand, the cemetery belongs to the village or the town, then deceased, regardless of their religion, will be buried there. (Marin Pintilie) Between , before this aspect of the cemeteries was clarified, there had been many incidents in which the Orthodox priest or the villagers did not allow the Pentecostals to bury their dead in the cemetery of the village. In such a situation, a citizen was forced to find an extreme solution: he buried his dead in his yard, at the depth of one meter. Then he phoned the Sanitary Department and told them what he had done. As a result of his intervention, he was allowed to bury his dead in the cemetery of the village. (Marin Pintilie) In 2002, in the village of Săcădat, Bihor county, there was another case of discrimination, as the interviewee consider, toward the Pentecostals. They wanted to build a new church, as the old one was in a bad state of repair. They bought the land in the central area of the village, but the Town Hall did not allow them to build the church there. It is believed that the delay in granting the approval was due to some extent to the pressure of the Orthodox Church. (Ilie Jolta) There have been situations in which the Pentecostals rented certain rooms for public religious events. Before the event took place, the contract was cancelled by the owner of the room, without any explanation or without any damages paid (Ioan Ceuta). (See Appendix 2) 33

34 3. Relations with the dominant religious community and other communities As the president of the Pentecostal Union of Romania, Pavel Riviş Tipei (tipei, Riviş Pavel 2002), states, The Romanian Pentecostal church is receptive to the initiatives of other religious cults that try to engage in a dialogue without altering their principles. We also try to have a positive impact on the Christians joint effort to come closer to God. As regards the relations with the orthodox Church, except for the situations of conflict described above, there are collaborations between the Orthodox and the Pentecostal believers. For instance, in rural communities, they contributed with money and work to the building of the Pentecostal church in the village. In 2002, in Cluj, there were people who helped renew a church that they did not go to, but their wives did (Marin Pintilie). Also, in the Orthodox theological educational institution, they accept in doctoral programmes representatives of the Pentecostal cults; the president of the Pentecostal union of Romania, Pavel Riviş Tipei participated in a doctoral programme in such an institution. (Vasile Roske) The tense relationships between the Orthodox and the Pentecostals usually occur in Oltenia and in villages where the Pentecostals are few. But there have been situations in which Orthodox priests were invited to preach in a Pentecostal church, and they honoured the invitation (Ioan Ceuta). As it was expected, the Pentecostal cult has close relations with the other Neo- Protestant cults: the Baptists, the Christians after the Gospel, and even the wing of Orthodoxism called the Army of God. Thus, they have gathered in an alliance, the Evangelical alliance, which is headed in turn by the Baptists, the Pentecostals, and the Christians after the Gospel. It represents the interests of these cults, and under its aegis there are several activities: seminars, conferences, broadcasts on the Christian radio station, films [The Life of Jesus], printing books, magazines, etc. Besides the alliance, there are many NGOs where Pentecostals work, alongside with Baptists and Christians after the Gospel, or members of the Army of God. Also, the Pentecostals are often involved in joint actions with the Adventists. Locally, there are collaborations with the representatives of the Greek-Catholic cult. For instance, in the area of Oaş, which we mentioned before, the Greek-Catholic priest allowed the Pentecostals to watch the film The Life of Jesus in the yard of his church. This was an isolated case, however, and probably unique. Some of the congregation argued with the priest reproaching his decision to allow the Pentecostals to do that (Victor Opris). Although at the level of leadership there are no conflicts with any cult, we can certainly state that there are no sympathies either, except for the Neo-Protestant cults. For instance, when the Pentecostal church of Satu Mare was being inaugurated, all the local clergy were sent invitations, but none of them attended the celebration. Moreover, when they have an event in the Orthodox Church, they do not invite the Pentecostals (Victor Opris). There are exceptions to this situation. For instance, in Arad, the orthodox priests participated in the inauguration of a Pentecostal prayer house, when 75 years of Pentecostalism was also celebrated (Ioan Serban). 34

35 VII. CONCLUSIONS After the 1989 Romanian Revolution, the legal framework is ensured for associative activities, including religious ones. At the celebration of 80 years of Pentecostalism in Romania, Emil Bulgăr, Secretary General of the Romanian Pentecostal Cult, pointed out the way in which the members of the Pentecostal community have benefited from the recently developed legal framework. Now, in this spiritual time of reflection, in the 80th year of our existence, many of us might rejoice and be filled with content for all that has been achieved. New churches in new buildings, preachers trained in higher education, reorganised territorial structure, including 8 Regional Pentecostal Communities, new relations with the state authorities and the other cults, and a significant numeric growth in the over 2,400 churches. Are all these not enough to make us happy and please our souls?! At the same time, the isolated cases of what that the interviewees have considered evidence of violence and/or discrimination against Pentecostal communities or community members cannot be generalised. They can be considered as local reactions of the authorities or members of other cults to the challenges of otherness. VIII. ADDRESSES 1. Pentecostal Headquarter Bucureşti Pentecostal Contact person: Pavel Riviş Tipei (President of the Romanian Pentecostal Union) Cuza Vodă St., No. 116, sector 4, Bucureşti Phone: , , Regional Pentecostal Communities: Arad Regional Pentecostal Community Ceahlău St., No. 22, Arad, 2900, Arad Phone: and Contact person: Moise Ardelean (president), Teodor Dronca (secretary) Braşov Regional Pentecostal Community Ioan Slavici St., No. 27, Braşov, 2200, Braşov Phone: and Contact person: Bucureşti Regional Pentecostal Community Cuza Vodă St., No. 116, sector 4, Bucureşti Phone: Contact person: Ioan Bochian (president) Cluj Regional Pentecostal Community Fericirii St., No. 29, Cluj, 3400, Cluj 35

36 Phone: Contact person: Aurel Moldovanu (president), Marin Pintilie (secretary) Oltenia-Argeş Regional Pentecostal Community Alexandru cel Bun St., No. 6, Craiova, 1100, Olt Phone: and Contact person: Maramureş and Sătmar Regional Pentecostal Community Oituz St., No. 1, Baia Mare, 4800, Maramureş Phone: Contact person: Victor Opriş (president) Oradea Regional Pentecostal Community Horea St., No. 12, Oradea, 3700, Bihor Phone: Fax: Contact person: Ioan Moldovan (president), Ilie Jolţa (secretary) Suceava Regional Pentecostal Community Gheorghe Doja St., No. 188, Suceava, 5800, Suceava Phone: Contact person: Şerban Costache (president), Liviu Leonte Belţig (secretary) 3. Pentecostal Churches County Number of County Number of churches churches Alba 0 Gorj 0 Arad 5 Harghita 0 Argeş 1 Hunedoara 2 Bacău 1 Ialomiţa 1 Bihor 3 Iaşi 1 Bistriţa Năsăud 2 Maramureş 0 Botoşani 1 Mehedinţi 0 Braşov 2 Mureş 0 Brăila 0 Olt 0 Bucureşti 6 Prahova 2 Buzău 1 Satu Mare 0 Călăraşi 0 Sălaj 0 Caraş-Severin 1 Sibiu 0 Cluj 2 Suceava 3 Constanţa 1 Teleorman 0 Covasna 0 Timiş 3 Dâmboviţa 4 Tulcea 0 Dolj 1 Vâlcea 1 Galaţi 1 Vaslui 0 Giurgiu 0 Vrancea 1 36

37 County ARAD Some of the Pentecostal Churches Contact details Biserica Penticostala "Betania" Minister: Prof. Dr. Pavel Riviş Tipei Vişinului St., No , 2900, Arad Phone: or Biserica Penticostala "Gloria" Minister: Moise Ardelean Gloriei St., No..5 - Bujac, 2900, Arad Phone: or bisericagloria@yahoo.com Web: Biserica Penticostală nr. 7 - Aradul Nou Minister: Vasile Lador Ady Endre St.., No. 6, 2900, Arad Phone: penticostali_ar7@yahoo.com Biserica Penticostală "Pe Stâncî" Soimos Minister: Lela Cornel Soimos St., No Lipova, 2875 Phone: bisericagloria@yahoo.com Web: Biserica Penticostală Bonteşti Minister: Nelu Popovici Bonteşti, Gurahonţ, 2842 Phone: or cris_dar@hotmail.com Argeş Bacău Bihor Biserica Penticostală "Elim" Minister: Ioan Voicu Dealurilor St., No. 8, Piteşti, 0300 Phone: Biserica-Elim@home.ro Biserica Penticostală "Osana" Minister: Boderianu T Bacău Phone: bordeianu@xnet.ro Biserica Penticostală "Sfânta Treime" Minister: Ioan Vladimir 22 Decembrie St., No. 9, 3600, Beiuş 37

38 Phone: Web: Biserica Penticostală "Betania" Ministeri: Teo Bulzan, Ioan Szasz Doina St., No. 19, Oradea Phone: Web: Biserica Penticostală "Filadelfia" Minister: Ilie Jolta Ana Ipătescu St., No. 11, Oradea Phone: or Bistriţa Năsăud Biserica Penticostală "Betleem" Conducător: Gavrilaş Costel 1 Decembrie 1918 St., 4575, Beclean Marius.blaga@personal.ro Biserica Penticostală Năsăud Minister: Oniga Victor Gării St., 4500, Năsăud, gelu@acasa.ro Botoşani Braşov Biserica Apostolică "Pâinea Vieţii" Minister: Topala Dorel M. Kogalniceanu St., Dărăbani Phone: D.Topala@ .ro Biserica Apostolica "Betleem" Minister: Nicolaie Stanciu Poarta Schei St., No. 19, Braşov, 2200 Phone: Biserica Penticostală Zărneşti Minister: Sabin Băbuţă Griviţa St., No. 10, Zărneşti, 2223 Phone: babutaus@yahoo.com Bucureşti Biserica Penticostală "Emanuel" Minister: Ioan Bochian Cuza Voda St., No. 116, Sector 4, 7000, Bucureşti Phone: eccbuh@arexim Web: apasa aici pentru informatii 38

39 Biserica Penticostală "Betel" Minister: Emil Bulgăr Munţii Gurghiului St., No. 55 B, sector 6, Bucureşti Phone: Biserica Penticostală "Maranatha" Minister: Stan Cornel Izbiceni St., No. 41, sector 1 Bucureşti Biserica Penticostală "Betesda" Minister: Chelu Iulian Soimuş St., No. 54, sector 4 Bucureşti Biserica Penticostală "Filadelfia" Minister: Biro Stefan Sebastian St., No. 43, Bucureşti Biserica Penticostală "Elim" Minister: Corneliu Livanu Andrei Muresan St., No. 54, Voluntari, elim@k.ro Buzău Caraş Severin Cluj Biserica Penticostală "Betleem" Minister: Ionel Dumintrache Salvării St., No. 3bis, Buzău Phone: buzaupent@freeservers.com Web: Biserica Penticostală "Cezareea" Minister: Radu Pavel Castanilor St., No. 119, Reşita, 1700 Phone: ribana@cs.ro Biserica Penticostală "Râul Vieţii" Minister: ROMEO POPAN Dobrogeanu Gherea St., No. 7, Cluj-Napoca, 3400 Phone: rv@edison.ro Web: Biserica Penticostală "Speranţa" Minister: Gheorghe Amza Siretului St., No. 10, Cluj-Napoca, 3400 Phone: Constanţa Biserica Penticostală "Buna Vestire" Minister: Traian Pascalau C.P , Constanţa,

40 Phone: Web: Dâmboviţa Biserica Penticostala "Rebeca" Minister: Costel Morisca (prezbiter) Jidojnitei St., Bucşani, Biserica Penticostală "Elim" Minister: Floarea Ion Tudorica Popescu Str., No. 60, Târgovişte, 0200 Biserica Penticostală "Cetatea Sfântă" Minister: Costel Morisca (prezbiter) Calea Domneasca St.. No. 384, Târgovişte, 0200 Biserica Penticostală "Filadelfia" Minister: Stanciu Ion Cocorilor St., No. 6, Târgovişte, 0200 Dolj Galaţi Hunedoara Biserica Penticostală nr.1 Minister: Luca Cretan Alexandru cel Bun St., No. 6, Craiova, 1100 Phone: Biserica Penticostală "Sfânta Treime" Minister: Marin Petru Bradului St., Tecuci, 6300 Phone: Biserica Penticostală "Emanuel" Minister: Viorel Buble Mihai Eminescu St., No. 56, Deva, 2700 Phone: and Biserica Penticostală "Muntele Sionului" Minister: Raducanu Cornel Victor Babeş St., No.43, Deva, 2700 Phone: ; or Ialomiţa Biserica Penticostală "Philadelphia" Minister: Costel Grămadă Mihai Viteazu St., No. 41, Urziceni, Phone: Web: 40

41 Iaşi Prahova Biserica Penticostală "Străjerul" Minister: Danuţ Jemna Banat St., No. 1/B, Iaşi, 6600 Phone: Web: Biserica Penticostală "Betania" Minister: Eugen Filote Arcului St., No. 44, Ploieşti, 2000 Biserica Penticostală "Emanuel" Minister: George Uiuiu Ana Ipătescu St., No. 26A, Ploieşti, 2000 Phone: Suceava Biserica Penticostală "Filadelfia" Minister: David Reguş Dimitrie Cantemir St., No. 7b, Câmpulung Moldovenesc, 5950 Phone: or Web: Biserica Penticostală "Filadelfia" Minister: Ionică Badelită Narciselor St., Suceava, 5800 Phone: Web: Biserica Penticostală - Sf. Ilie Minister: Costache Serban Cartier Obcini (Sf Ilie), Suceava, 5800 Phone: or dannyung@msn.com Timiş Biserica Penticostală Elim Minister: Teodor Codreanu Timişoara, 1900 Biserica Penticostală Minister: Gheorge Dunca Ion Creanga St., No. 5, Sânnicolau-Mare, 1976 Biserica Penticostală "Speranţa" Minister: Rus Dorel Munteniei St., Timişoara, 1900 Vâlcea Biserica Penticostală "Sfanta Treime" 41

42 Minister: Ionatan Voina Ioniţă Oteleteleaşanu St., No. 4, Râmnicul Valcea, 1000 Phone: or Web: Vrancea Biserica Penticostală "Maranata" Minister: EUGEN DAN Ion Creanga St., No. 15b, Focşani, 5300 Phone: Web: Institutions and/or associations Ajutorarea Copiilor Străzii Foundation Vrancea St., No. 9, Bucureşti Generel Manager: Florin Ianovici The Bible League Romania Foundation Phone/Fax: Fundaţia Evanghelică de Binefacere a Nevăzătorilor din România Orbul Bartimeu Petru Rareş St., No. 7, Suceava Phone/Fax: Help Romania Negreşti Oaş Contact person: Gheorghe Varga Centrul Şcolar Creştin Oradea I.Ghica St., No. 13, 3700 Oradea; Phone: , preşedinte: Liviu Apolzan Colegiul Biblic Est-European Meiului St., No. 4, 3700 Oradea Contact person: Florian Ghiurău Căminul Felix Sânmărtin, Bihor Contact person: Lars Hörnberg Societatea Penticostală de Misiune Creştină 1 Decembrie 1918 St., No. 11, 3700 Oradea Contact person: Bogdan Ioan 42

43 Alianţa Evanghelică din România Contact person: Mr. Dr. David Ciucur B-dul Tineretului No. 29, Bl.19, Sc. A, Et. 10, Ap. 42, Sect. 4, Bucureşti Phone/Fax: or Agape World Wide Ministries Contact person: Corneliu Telegaru, Minister 23 Albert Street, Rocklea, Brisbane, Queensland 4106, Australia Phone: Apasati aici pentru mai multe informatii. Asociaţia Bisericilor Penticostale Romane din SUA 5544 SE 128 Ave, Portland, OR (503) Clubul Tinerilor Creştini de pe tot Pământul Web: 5. Minority media a. Magazines Cuvântul Adevărului Redactor sef: Cristian Vaile Roske Carol Davila St. 81, Sector 5, Bucharest, Cod Phone Lumina Vechilor Cărări O.P. Nr. 1 C.P. Nr. 50, Mun. Radauti, Jud Suceava, cod România Phone: or crupinschi@crossnet.at Clipa Revistă independentă de informaţie socio-politică şi culturală P.O. Box 4391 Anaheim, CA Phone: Fax: Flacăra Rusaliilor Măgurei St., No. 3, Sebiş, Arad Phone: or Lumea oamenilor de afaceri creştini Editată de Asociaţia Worldwide Romania Christian Businessmen Fellowship şi Asociaţia Christian Businessmen România Berzei St., No. 5, Oradea, 3700 Phone: Fax:

44 Web: ascbr.team.ro Szivtől szivhez Principală 54 Hondol 3979, Satu Mare Apa Vieţii Magazine of the Romanian Pentecostal Churches from Austria. APA Vieţii, Pst Fach 68, 1232 Wien, Austria Cuvântul Vieţii Magazine of the Romanian Pentecostal Churches from Austria - Freie Christengemeinde - Austria Steinamangerer Str. 16, A-7400 Oberwart Phone: crupinschi@crossnet.at b. Radio Stations Alfa Timişoara Radio Vocea Evangheliei. Radio CNM, Arad. Radio Est - Braşov c. Internet Web Sites d. Publishing Houses Life Publisher Manager: Liliana Ardelean Ady Endre St., No. 34, 3700 Oradea Flacăra Rusaliilor Măgurei St., No. 3, Sebiş, Arad Phone: or XI. GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Brânzei, Daniel (1999). Christian identity throw history Relations, Accomplishments, and Christian Realities. 2. Cuvântul Adevărului No. 4/2001, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8/2002. Magazine of the Pentecostal Union (Bucharest). 3. Flacăra Rusaliilor No. 5, 6/2002. (Sebiş Arad) 4. Government of Romania (1991). Romanian Constitution. Adopted November 21, 1991, (Bucharest), 44

45 5. Human Rights Watch, 6. Lumea oamenilor de afaceri creştini. No. 7, 8/2002. Asociaţia Christian Businessmen România, Oradea. 7. Mănăstireanu, Dănuţ (2000). The Future of the Romanian Evangelic Cults 8. Mănăstireanu, Dănuţ (Summer, 1998). Evangelical Denominations in Post- Communist Romania. East-West Church. Ministry Report Minority Rights Group (ed.) (1997). World Directory of Minorities. (London: MRG International). 10. Pope, Earl (1992). Protestantism in Romania, in Sabrina Petra Ramet, Protestantism and Politicsin Eastern Europe and Russia. The Communist and Postcommunist Eras. (Durham and London, Duke University Press). 11. Populaţie. Structură Demografică (1994) Census from Comisia Naţională de Statistică (Bucharest, Editura Comisiei Naţionale de Statistică) 12. Populaţie. Structură Demografică (2002) Census from Comisia Naţională de Statistică (Bucharest, Editura Comisiei Naţionale de Statistică), Romanian Ministry of Culture and the Denominations website: Sandru, Trandafir (1992). Pentecostal Church in the history of Christianity (Bucureşti, Romanian Pentecostal Apostolic Church of the Lord Publishing House). 15. Superlex (legislative database) The Heart of the Lord beats for Romania - report on the situation of Evangelic Churches in Romania, 2002, published by OC International, in collaboration with the United World Mission. 17. The sisters at the Orthodox Monastery of Dobric are terrorised by the villagers who belong to the Pentecostal Cult [Curierul National, no of 29/12/1999, Daniel Diviricean] (Maicile de la Mănăstirea ortodoxă Dobric sunt terorizate de sătenii care aparţin cultului penticostal Curierul Naţional, Nr din 29/12/1999, Daniel Diviricean) 18. Tipei Riviş, Pavel, (2002). The Role of the Romanian Pentecostal Church at the Beginning of the Third Millennium: Evaluation and Perspectives. (Cuvântul Adevărului, No. 4, Bucharest). 19. Ţon, Iosif (1988). The true belief. Wheaton. (Romanian Missionary Society). 20. As mentioned in the report, most of the information was obtained from interviews with the local representatives of the cult. The interviews were made with the following representatives of the Pentecostal Church: Şerban Ioan (minister, teacher at Pentecostal High-school Betania, Arad), Teodor Dronca (secretary) Arad; Mihai Rădulescu (secretary) - Braşov; Ioan Ceuţă (Prof. Dr., president of the Assembly of God, President of the Pentecostal Theological Institute), Cristian Vasile Roske (speaker of the Romania Pentecostal Movement) Bucureşti; Aurel Moldovanu (president), Marin Pintilie (secretary) Cluj; Victor Opriş (president) - Maramureş and Sătmar; Ilie Jolţa (secretary) Oradea; Liviu Leonte Belţig (secretary) Suceava. 45

46 About the ETHNOCULTURAL DIVERSITY RESOURCE CENTRE The Ethnocultural Diversity Resource Center is an independent, non-governmental organization registered in Cluj, Romania. EDRC is member of the Soros Open Network (SON), the Consortium on Minority Resources (COMIR) and the Donors Forum in Romania. Mission The mission of EDRC is to contribute to the construction of democracy in Romania, by improving the country s interethnic climate and promoting the principles of ethnocultural peace and justice. Objectives To provide a more favorable climate for interethnic relations in Romania To increase participation and visibility of ethnic minorities in the public sphere To provide support and assistance for minority NGOs To support interethnic partnerships and promote interethnic dialogue To promote public policies that try to accommodate the ethnocultural diversity of Romania To provide research and documentation, and to monitor ethnic relations in the country To cooperate with local authorities in promoting the interests of ethnic minorities To promote the principles of good governance in multiethnic communities Programs Grant-giving programs: Partnerships between schools with instruction in the language of minorities and schools with instruction in Romanian; Grants meant to facilitate multiethnic community change within the the Improving interethnic relations in Southeastern Europe regional program. Operational programs: Barometer of Ethnic Relations - a descriptive and evaluative instrument of the dynamics of interethnic relations in Romania, it consists of a series of annual surveys; Local Public Administration in Multiethnic Communities assistance in the application of the Law of Public Administration in multiethnic communities; Helping Underprivileged Children Succeed program of remedial literacy instruction for primary school children in rural areas. Active Documentation Programs: Reports on the situation of the national and religious minorities in Romania, carried out in partnership with the Center for Documentation and Information on Minorities in Europe Southeast Europe; 46

47 Disseminating the experiences of Roma projects report on the projects implemented to the benefit of Roma communities in post-communist Romania; Alter-Image - photo documentary on the national minorities in Romania; Institutionalizing interethnic dialogue survey on the initiatives of dialogue between Romanian and Hungarian intellectuals in the period between ; Status Policies comparative analysis of the European policies addressing the relation between kin-states and minorities abroad; Minorities in Government - comparative policy impact evaluation on the participation of ethnic parties in the coalition governments of Macedonia, Romania and Slovakia. Research on EU information multipliers in Romania. Tinerii şi drepturile omului project of information and education in human rights. Documentation center and Social Sciences Library of EDRC. Publications program: Ethnocultural Diversity Series: I. Interethnic Relations in Post-Communist Romania, II. Ethnocultural Minorities: Documents. The Gypsies of Romania ( ), III. Ethnocultural Minorities: Documents. The Hungarians of Romania ( ); Provincia monthly journal of political culture. Training programs: Conflict prevention and management in multicultural communities - training modules for non-commissioned police officers; Training for teachers of Romanian language and literature that work in schools where the language of instruction is a national minority language. Scholarships: Central European University (CEU) M.A. and Ph.D. study grants for CEU - Budapest, Hungary; Central European University - Summer University grants for the summer courses organized at CEU; Curriculum Resource Center CEU grants for curriculum development in higher education. Donors Open Society Foundation Romania King Baudouin Foundation Belgium Charles Stewart Mott Foundation USA Delegation of the European Commission in Romania European Council Open Society Institute (LGI) Budapest Central European University Hungary World Learning Romania Westminster Foundation Great Britain 47

48 The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Carpathian Foundation Fund for Development of the Carpathian Euroregion Partners USAID Romania MEDE European Consultancy Holland CEDIME-SE Center of Documentation and Information on Minorities in Europe Southeast Europe Greece Ministry of Home Affairs, General Police Inspectorate - Romania Ministry of Education and Research Romania Ministry of Public Information Romania Romanian Association for Community Development Bucharest, Romania Pro Europa League Tg. Mures, Romania Center for Research of Interethnic Relations in Romania Cluj, Romania Resource Center for Roma Communities Cluj, Romania Soros Educational Center Romania GAMA Foundation - Tg. Mures, Romania Address: 3400 Cluj-Napoca 21 Tebei St. Romania Tel: ; Fax: info@edrc.osf.ro Contact person: Levente Salat 48

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